Remote unit with a configurable mode of operation

ABSTRACT

A relay supporting multiple relay modes is provided. The relay transmits capability information to a base station, the capability information indicating support for a first relay mode and a second relay mode. The relay determines a mode of operation, either on its own or based on an indication of a mode of operation from the base station, wherein the mode of operation comprises the first relay mode or the second relay mode. The relay communicates with at least one of the base station or another wireless device based at least in part on the determined mode of operation.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation in part of and claims the benefit ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/009,674, entitled “RELAY WITH ACONFIGURABLE MODE OF OPERATION” and filed on Sep. 1, 2020, and claimsthe benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/896,532,entitled “RELAY WITH A CONFIGURABLE MODE OF OPERATION” and filed on Sep.5, 2019, both of which are expressly incorporated by reference herein intheir entirety.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems, andmore particularly, to wireless communication including a relay or arepeater.

Introduction

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide varioustelecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging,and broadcasts. Typical wireless communication systems may employmultiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication withmultiple users by sharing available system resources. Examples of suchmultiple-access technologies include code division multiple access(CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequencydivision multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency divisionmultiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency divisionmultiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous codedivision multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems.

These multiple access technologies have been adopted in varioustelecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enablesdifferent wireless devices to communicate on a municipal, national,regional, and even global level. An example telecommunication standardis 5G New Radio (NR). 5G NR is part of a continuous mobile broadbandevolution promulgated by Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) tomeet new requirements associated with latency, reliability, security,scalability (e.g., with Internet of Things (IoT)), and otherrequirements, 5G NR includes services associated with enhanced mobilebroadband (eMBB), massive machine type communications (mMTC), and ultrareliable low latency communications (URLLC). Some aspects of 5G NR maybe based on the 4G Long Evolution (LTE) standard. There exists a needfor further improvements in 5G NR technology. These improvements mayalso be applicable to other multi-access technologies and thetelecommunication standards that employ these technologies.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects inorder to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary isnot an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intendedto neither identify key or critical elements of all, aspects nordelineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is topresent some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as aprelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

In an aspect of the disclosure, a method, a computer-readable medium,and an apparatus are provided. The apparatus may be a remote unit. Theremove unit may receive, from a first wireless device, a first signal;determine a mode of operation for processing the first signal; processthe first signal based on the mode of operation to generate a secondsignal; and transmit the second signal to a second wireless device.

In some aspects, determining the mode of operation comprises selecting amode from a relaying mode and a repeating mode.

In some, aspects, determining the mode of operation comprisesdetermining a functionality split for processing the first signal.

In some aspects, determining the mode of operation comprises determininga functionality split for generating the second signal.

In some aspects, determining the mode of operation comprises selecting amode from a transmitter-transparent relay mode and areceiver-transparent relay mode.

In some aspects, the mode of operation is determined based on whetherthe first wireless device is a base station or based on whether thesecond wireless device is a base station.

In some aspects, the mode of operation is determined based on a qualityof service requirement associated with the first signal or the secondsignal.

In some aspects, the mode of operation is determined based on a firstchannel quality associated with a communication link between the remoteunit and the first wireless or a second channel quality associated withcommunication link between the remote unit and the second wirelessdevice.

In some aspects, the mode of operation is determined based on whetherthe first signal is a data channel or a control channel.

In some aspects, the remote unit may receive a mode configuration from acontrol entity, wherein the mode of operation is determined based on themode configuration.

In some aspects, the first signal comprises mode instructions and themode of operation is determined based on the mode instructions.

In another aspect of the disclosure, a method, a computer-readablemedium, and an apparatus are provided. The apparatus may be a wirelessdevice. The wireless device may determine to transmit a firsttransmission for a second wireless device to a remote unit; generate thefirst transmission, the first transmission comprising information forgenerating a second transmission, the information for generating thesecond transmission being based on a mode of operation of the remoteunit; and transmit the first transmission to the remote unit.

In some aspects, the wireless device is a base station, the firsttransmission is a downlink channel, and the second transmission is adownlink channel.

In some aspects, the information comprises time domain IQ samples,frequency domain IQ samples, symbols, codewords, or a transport blockfor generating the second transmission.

In another aspect of the disclosure, a method, a computer-readablemedium, and an apparatus are provided. The apparatus may be a wirelessdevice. The wireless device may receive a second transmission from aremote unit, the second transmission comprising information about afirst transmission transmitted by a second wireless device to the remoteunit and determine the first transmission based on the secondtransmission and the information about the first transmission.

In some aspects, the wireless device is a base station, the firsttransmission is an uplink channel, and the second transmission is anuplink channel.

In some aspects, the information comprises time domain IQ samples,frequency domain IQ samples, symbols, codewords, or a transport block ofthe first transmission.

In another aspect of the disclosure, a method, a computer-readablemedium, and an apparatus are provided. The apparatus may be a basestation. The base station may determine a mode of operation for a remoteunit, the mode of operation being a configuration for the remote unit toprocess a first signal received from a first wireless device to generatea second signal for transmission to a second wireless device; andtransmit the mode of operation to the remote unit.

In some aspects, determining the mode of operation comprises selecting amode from a relaying mode and a repeating mode.

In some aspects, determining the mode of operation comprises determininga functionality split for processing the first signal.

In some aspects, determining the mode of operation comprises determininga functionality split for generating the second signal.

In some aspects, determining the mode of operation comprises selecting amode from a transmitter-transparent relay mode and areceiver-transparent relay mode.

In some aspects, the mode of operation is determined based on whetherthe first wireless device is a base station or based on whether thesecond wireless device is a base station.

In some aspects, the mode of operation is determined based on a qualityof service requirement associated with the first signal or the secondsignal.

In some aspects, the mode of operation is determined based on a firstchannel quality associated with a communication link between the remoteunit and the first wireless or a second channel quality associated withcommunication link between the remote unit and the second wirelessdevice.

In some aspects, the mode of operation is determined based on whetherthe first signal is a data channel or a control channel.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or moreaspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims. The following description andthe annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative featuresof the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, ofbut a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspectsmay be employed, and this description is intended to include all suchaspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communicationssystem and an access network.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D are diagrams illustrating examples of a first5G/NR frame, DL channels within a 5G/NR subframe, a second 5G/NR frame,and UL channels within a 5G/NR subframe, respectively.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a base station and userequipment (UE) in an access network.

FIG. 4 illustrates a Class B relay.

FIG. 5 illustrates a relay supporting operation in an amplify-forwardmode and a decode-forward mode.

FIG. 6 is a communication diagram illustrating communication between abase station, a relay, and a UE that includes selection between multiplesupported modes for the relay.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method of wireless communication at a basestation.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual data flow diagram illustrating the data flowbetween different means/components in an example apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementationfor an apparatus employing a processing system.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a method of wireless communication at a relay.

FIG. 11 is a conceptual data flow diagram illustrating the data flowbetween different means components in an example apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an apparatus employing a processing system.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a method of wireless communication at a UE.

FIG. 14 is a conceptual data flow diagram illustrating the data flowbetween different means/components in an example apparatus.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an apparatus employing a processing system.

FIG. 16A is a diagram illustrating a repeating operation.

FIG. 16B is a diagram illustrating a relaying operation.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a repeating operation with multiplefunctionality splits.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a relaying operation with multiplefunctionality splits for generating an outgoing communication.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a relaying operation with multiplefunctionality splits for decoding an incoming communication.

FIG. 20 is a communication flow diagram illustrating operation of aremote unit with a variable mode of operation.

FIG. 21 is a communication flow diagram illustrating a remote unitutilizing a transmitter-transparent relay mode and areceiver-transparent relay mode.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart of a method of wireless communication at a remoteunit.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart of a method of wireless communication at awireless device.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart of a method of wireless communication at awireless device.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart of a method of wireless communication at a basestation.

FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an example apparatus.

FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an example apparatus.

FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an example apparatus.

FIG. 29 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an example apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appendeddrawings is intended as a description of configurations and is notintended to represent the only configurations in which the conceptsdescribed herein may be practiced. The detailed description includesspecific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understandingof various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that these concepts may be practiced without these specificdetails. In some instances, well known structures and components areshown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring such concepts.

Several aspects of telecommunication systems will now be presented withreference to various apparatus and methods. These apparatus and methodswill be described in the following detailed description and illustratedin the accompanying drawings by various blocks, components, circuits,processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as “elements”).These elements may be implemented using electronic hardware, computersoftware, or any combination thereof. Whether such elements areimplemented as hardware or software depends upon the particularapplication and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

By way of example, an element, or any portion of an element, or anycombination of elements may be implemented as a “processing system” thatincludes one or more processors. Examples of processors includemicroprocessors, microcontrollers, graphics processing units (GPUs),central processing units (CPUs), application processors, digital signalprocessors (DSPs), reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors,systems on a chip (SoC), baseband processors, field programmable gatearrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gatedlogic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardwareconfigured to perform the various functionality described throughoutthis disclosure. One or more processors in the processing system mayexecute software. Software shall be construed broadly to meaninstructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code,programs, subprograms, software components, applications, softwareapplications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects,executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whetherreferred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardwaredescription language, or otherwise.

Accordingly, in one or more example embodiments, the functions describedmay be implemented in hardware, software, or any combination thereof. Ifimplemented in software, the functions may be stored on or encoded asone or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium.Computer-readable media includes computer storage media. Storage mediamay be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way ofexample, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise arandom-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an, electricallyerasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), optical disk storage, magnetic diskstorage, other magnetic storage devices, combinations of theaforementioned types of computer-readable media, or any other mediumthat can be used to store computer executable code in the form ofinstructions or data structures that can be accessed by a computer.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communicationssystem and an access network 100. The wireless communications system(also referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) includes basestations 102, UEs 104, an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) 160, and anothercore network 190 (e.g., a 5G Core (5GC)). The base stations 102 mayinclude macrocells (high power cellular base station) and/or small cells(low power cellular base station). The macrocells include base stations.The small cells include femtocells, picocells, and microcells.

The base stations 102 configured for 4G LTE (collectively referred to asEvolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) TerrestrialRadio Access Network (E-UTRAN)) may interface with the EPC 160 throughfirst backhaul links 132 (e.g., S1 interface). The base stations 102configured for 5G NR (collectively referred to as Next Generation RAN(NG-RAN)) may interface with core network 190 through second backhaullinks 184. In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 mayperform one or more of the following functions: transfer of user data,radio channel ciphering and deciphering, integrity protection, headercompression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dualconnectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setupand release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS)messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, radio access network(RAN) sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriberand equipment trace, RAN information management (RIM), paging,positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 maycommunicate directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC 160 or corenetwork 190) with each other over third backhaul links 134 (e.g., X2interface). The third backhaul links 134 may be wired or wireless.

The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Eachof the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for arespective geographic coverage area 110. There may be overlappinggeographic coverage areas 110. For example, the small cell 102′ may havea coverage area 110 that overlaps the coverage area 110 of one or moremacro base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell andmacrocells may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneousnetwork may also include Home Evolved Node Bs (eNBs) (HeNBs), which mayprovide service to a restricted group known as a closed subscriber group(CSG). The communication links 120 between the base stations 102 and theUEs 104 may include uplink (UL) (also referred to as reverse link)transmissions from a UE 104 to a base station 102 and/or downlink (DL)(also referred to as forward link) transmissions from a base station 102to a UE 104. The communication links 120 may use multiple-input andmultiple-output (MIME) antenna technology, including spatialmultiplexing, beamforming, and/or transmit diversity. The communicationlinks may be through one or more carriers. The base stations 102/UEs 104may use spectrum up to Y MHz (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 100, 400, etc. MHz)bandwidth per carrier allocated in a carrier aggregation of up to atotal of Yx MHz (x component carriers) used for transmission in eachdirection. The carriers may or may not be adjacent to each other.Allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL(e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for DL than for UL). Thecomponent carriers may include a primary component carrier and one ormore secondary component carriers. A primary component carrier may bereferred to as a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary component carriermay be referred to as a secondary cell (SCell).

Certain UEs 104 may communicate with each other using device-to-device(D2D) communication link 158. The D2D communication link 158 may use theDL/UL WWAN spectrum. The D2D communication link 158 may use one or moresidelink channels, such as a physical sidelink broadcast channel(PSBCH), a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), a physicalsidelink shared channel (PSSCH), and a physical sidelink control channel(PSCCH). D2D communication may be through a variety of wireless D2Dcommunications systems, such as for example, FlashLinQ, WiMedia,Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi based on the IEEE 802.11 standard, LTE, or NR.

The wireless communications system may further include a Wi-Fi accesspoint (AP) 150 in communication with Wi-Fi stations (STAs) 152 viacommunication links 154 in a 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum. Whencommunicating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the STAs 152/AP 150may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) prior to communicating inorder to determine whether the channel is available.

The small cell 102′ may operate in a licensed and/or an unlicensedfrequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum,the small cell 102′ may employ NR and use the same 5 GHz unlicensedfrequency spectrum as used by the Wi-Fi AP 150. The small cell 102′,employing NR in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, may boost coverage toand/or increase capacity of the access network.

A base station 102, whether a small cell 102′ or a large cell (e.g.,macro base station), may include and/or be referred to as an eNB, gNodeB(gNB), or another type of base station. Some base stations, such as gNB180 may operate in a traditional sub 6 GHz spectrum, in millimeter wave(mmW) frequencies, and/or near mmW frequencies in communication with theUE 104. When the gNB 180 operates in mmW or near mmW frequencies, thegNB 180 may be referred to as an mmW base station. Extremely highfrequency (EHF) is part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHFhas a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeterand 10 millimeters. Radio waves in the band may be referred to as amillimeter wave. Near mmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz with awavelength of 100 millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) bandextends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, also referred to as centimeter wave.Communications using the mmW/near mmW radio frequency band (e.g., 3GHz-300 GHz) has extremely high path loss and a short range. The mmWbase station 180 may utilize beamforming 182 with the UE 104 tocompensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. The basestation 180 and the UE 104 may each include a plurality of antennas,such as antenna elements, antenna panels, and/or antenna arrays tofacilitate the beamforming.

The base station 180 may transmit a beamformed signal to the UE 104 inone or more transmit directions 182′. The UE 104 may receive thebeamformed signal from the base station 180 in one or more receivedirections 182″. The UE 104 may also transmit a beamformed signal to thebase station 180 in one or more transmit directions. The base station180 may receive the beamformed signal from the UE 104 in one or morereceive directions. The base station 180/UE 104 may perform beamtraining to determine the best receive and transmit directions for eachof the base station 180/UE 104. The transmit and receive directions forthe base station 180 may or may not be the same. The transmit andreceive directions for the UE 104 may or may not be the same.

The EPC 160 may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 162, otherMMEs 164, a Serving Gateway 166, a Multimedia Broadcast MulticastService (MBMS) Gateway 168, a Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BM-SC)170, and a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway 172. The MME 162 may be incommunication with a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 174. The MME 162 isthe control node that processes the signaling between the UEs 104 andthe EPC 160. Generally, the MME 162 provides bearer and connectionmanagement. All user Internet protocol (IP) packets are transferredthrough the Serving Gateway 166, which itself is connected to the PDNGateway 172. The PDN Gateway 172 provides UE IP address allocation aswell as other functions. The PDN Gateway 172 and the BM-SC 170 areconnected to the IP Services 176. The IP Services 176 may include theInternet, an intranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), a PS StreamingService, and/or other IP services. The BM-SC 170 may provide functionsfor MBMS user service provisioning and delivery. The BM-SC 170 may serveas an entry point for content provider MBMS transmission, may be used toauthorize and initiate MBMS Bearer Services within a public land mobilenetwork (PLMN), and may be used to schedule MBMS transmissions. The MBMSGateway 168 may be used to distribute MBMS traffic to the base stations102 belonging to a Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN)area broadcasting a particular service, and may be responsible forsession management (start/stop) and for collecting eMBMS relatedcharging information.

The core network 190 may include a Access and Mobility ManagementFunction (AMF) 192, other AMFs 193, a Session Management Function (SMF)194, and, a User Plane Function (UPF) 195. The AMF 192 may be incommunication with a Unified Data Management (UDM) 196. The AMF 192 isthe control node that processes the signaling between the UEs 104 andthe core network 190. Generally, the AMF 192 provides QoS flow andsession management. All user Internet protocol (IP) packets aretransferred through the UPF 195. The UPF 195 provides UE IP addressallocation as well as other functions. The UPF 195 is connected to theIP Services 197. The IP Services 197 may include the Internet, anintranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), a PS Streaming Service,and/or other IP services.

The base station may include and/or be referred to as a gNB, Node B,eNB, an access point, a base transceiver station, a radio base station,a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS),an extended service set (ESS), a transmit reception point (TRP), or someother suitable terminology. The base station 102 provides an accesspoint to the EPC 160 or core network 190 for a UE 104. Examples of UEs104 include a cellular phone, a smart phone, a session initiationprotocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personal digital assistant (PDA), asatellite radio, a global positioning system, a multimedia device, avideo device, a digital audio player (e.g., MP3 player), a camera, agame console, a tablet, a smart device, a wearable device, a vehicle, anelectric meter, a gas pump, a large or small kitchen appliance, ahealthcare device, an implant, a sensor/actuator, a display, or anyother similar functioning device. Some of the UEs 104 may be referred toas IoT devices (e.g., parking meter, gas pump, toaster, vehicles, heartmonitor, etc.). The UE 104 may also be referred to as a station, amobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit,a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, awireless communications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriberstation, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, aremote terminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, orsome other suitable terminology.

Referring again to FIG. 1 , in certain aspects, a relay 103 may receivea signal from a base station 102, 180 and may relay the signal to a UE104, and/or may receive a signal from the UE 104 and may relay thesignal to another UE. The base station 102, 180 may be configured todetermine a mode of operation for the relay 103 and communicate usingthe determined mode of operation (191). The relay 103 may be configuredto determine a mode of operation for itself and communicate using thedetermined mode of operation (198). The UE 101 may be configured todetermine a parameter for communicating with the relay 103 based on thedetermined mode of operation (199). Although the following descriptionmay be focused on a mmW relay including amplify-forward anddecode-forward modes, the concepts described herein may be applicable toother similar areas, such as low-frequency repeaters.

FIG. 2A is a diagram 200 illustrating an example of a first subframewithin a 5G/NR frame structure. FIG. 2B is a diagram 230 illustrating anexample of DL channels within a 5G/NR subframe. FIG. 2C is a diagram 250illustrating an, example of a second subframe within a 5G/NR framestructure. FIG. 2D is a diagram 280 illustrating an example of ULchannels within a 5G/NR subframe. The 5G/NR frame structure may be FDDin which for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth),subframes within the set of subcarriers are dedicated for either DL orUL, or may be TDD in which for a particular set of subcarriers (carriersystem bandwidth), subframes within the set of subcarriers are dedicatedfor both DL and UL. In the examples provided by FIGS. 2A, 2C, the 5G/NRframe structure is assumed to be TDD, with subframe 4 being configuredwith slot format 28 (with mostly DL), where D is DL, U is UL, and X isflexible for use between DL/UL, and subframe 3 being configured withslot format 34 (with mostly UL). While subframes 3, 4 are shown withslot formats 34, 28, respectively, any particular subframe may beconfigured with, any of the various available slot formats 0-61. Slotformats 0, 1 are all DL, UL, respectively. Other slot formats 2-61include a mix of DL, UL, and flexible symbols. UEs are configured withthe slot format (dynamically through DL control information (DCI), orsemi-statically/statically through radio resource control (RRC)signaling) through a received slot format indicator (SFI). Note that thedescription infra applies also to a 5G/NR, frame structure that is TDD.

Other wireless communication technologies may have a different framestructure and/or different channels. A frame (10 ms) may be divided into10 equally sized subframes (1 ms). Each subframe may include one or moretime slots. Subframes may also include mini-slots, which may include 7,4, or 2 symbols. Each slot may include 7 or 14 symbols, depending on theslot configuration. For slot configuration 0, each slot may include 14symbols, and for slot configuration 1, each slot may include 7 symbols.The symbols on DL may be cyclic prefix (CP) OFDM (CP-OFDM) symbols. Thesymbols on UL may be CP-OFDM symbols (for high, throughput scenarios) ordiscrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols (alsoreferred to as, single carrier frequency-division multiple access(SC-FDMA) symbols) (for power limited scenarios; limited to a singlestream transmission). The number of slots within a subframe is based onthe slot configuration and the numerology. For slot configuration 0,different numerologies μ0 to 5 allow for 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 slots,respectively, per subframe. For slot configuration 1, differentnumerologies 0 to 2 allow for 2, 4, and 8 slots, respectively, persubframe. Accordingly, for slot configuration 0 and numerology μ, thereare 14 symbols/slot and 2^(μ) slots/subframe. The subcarrier spacing andsymbol length/duration are a function of the numerology. The subcarrierspacing may be equal to 2^(μ) 15 kHz, where μ is the numerology 0 to 5.As such, the numerology μ=0 has a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz and thenumerology μ=5 has a subcarrier spacing of 480 kHz. The symbollength/duration is inversely related to the subcarrier spacing. FIGS.2A-2D provide an example of slot configuration 0 with 14 symbols perslot and numerology μ=0 with 1 slot per subframe. The subcarrier spacingis 15 kHz and symbol duration is approximately 66.7 μs.

A resource grid may be used to represent the frame structure. Each timeslot includes a resource block (RB) (also referred to as physical RBs(PRBs)) that extends 12 consecutive subcarriers. The resource grid isdivided into multiple resource elements (REs). The number of bitscarried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

As illustrated in FIG. 2A, some of the REs carry reference (pilot)signals (RS) for the UE. The RS may include demodulation RS (DM-RS)(indicated as R_(x) for one particular configuration, where 100x is theport number, but other DM-RS configurations are possible) and channelstate information reference signals (CSI-RS) for channel estimation atthe UE. The RS may also include beam measurement RS (BRS), beamrefinement RS (BRRS), and phase tracking RS (PT-RS).

FIG. 2B illustrates an example of various DL channels within a subframeof a frame. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries DCIwithin one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE includingnine RE groups (REGs), each REG including four consecutive REs in anOFDM symbol. A primary synchronization signal (PSS) may be within symbol2 of particular subframes of a frame. The PSS is used by a UE 104 todetermine subframe/symbol timing and a physical layer identity. Asecondary synchronization signal (SSS) may be within symbol 4 ofparticular subframes of a frame. The SSS is used by a UE to determine aphysical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing. Basedon the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identitygroup number, the UE can determine a physical cell identifier (PCI).Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the locations of theaforementioned DM-RS. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH), whichcarries a master information block (MIB), may be logically grouped withthe PSS and SSS to form a synchronization signal (SS)/PBCH block. TheMIB provides a number of RBs in the system bandwidth, and a system framenumber (SFN). The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries userdata, broadcast system information not transmitted through the PBCH suchas system information blocks (SIBs), and paging messages.

As illustrated in FIG. 2C, some of the REs carry DM-RS (indicated as Rfor one particular configuration, but other DM-RS configurations arepossible) for channel estimation at the base station. The UE maytransmit DM-RS for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and DM-RSfor the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The PUSCH DM-RS may betransmitted in the first one or two symbols of the PUSCH. The PUCCHDM-RS may be transmitted in different configurations depending onwhether short or long PUCCHs are transmitted and depending on theparticular PUCCH format used. Although not shown, the UE may transmitsounding reference signals (SRS). The SRS may be used by a base stationfor channel quality estimation to enable frequency-dependent schedulingon the UL.

FIG. 2D illustrates an example of various UL channels within a subframeof a frame. The PUCCH may be located as indicated in one configuration.The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as schedulingrequests, a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrixindicator (PMI), a rank indicator (RI), and HARQ ACK/NACK feedback. ThePUSCH carries data, and may additionally be used to carry a bufferstatus report (BSR), a power headroom report (PHR), and/or UCI.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a base station 310 in communication with aUE 350 in an access network. In the DL, IP packets from the EPC 160 maybe provided to a controller/processor 375. The controller/processor 375implements layer 3 and layer 2 functionality. Layer 3 includes a radioresource control (RRC) layer, and layer 2 includes a service dataadaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a packet data convergence protocol(PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium accesscontrol (MAC) layer. The controller/processor 375 provides RRC layerfunctionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g.,MIB, SiBs), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRCconnection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRCconnection release), inter radio access technology (RAT) mobility, andmeasurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layerfunctionality associated with header compression/decompression, security(ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification),and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated withthe transfer of upper layer packet data units (PDUs), error correctionthrough ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC servicedata units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering ofRLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mappingbetween logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MACSDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs,scheduling information reporting, error correction through HARQ,priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

The transmit (TX) processor 316 and the receive (RX) processor 370implement layer 1 functionality associated with various signalprocessing functions. Layer 1, which includes a physical (PHY) layer,may include error detection on the transport channels, forward errorcorrection (FEC) coding/decoding of the transport channels,interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels,modulation/demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antennaprocessing. The TX processor 316 handles mapping to signalconstellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binaryphase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK),M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation(M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split intoparallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an OFDM subcarrier,multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and/orfrequency domain, and then combined together using an Inverse FastFourier Transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a timedomain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM stream is spatially precoded toproduce multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channelestimator 374 may be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme,as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimate may be derivedfrom a reference signal and/or channel condition feedback transmitted bythe UE 350. Each spatial stream may then be provided to a differentantenna 320 via a separate transmitter 318TX. Each transmitter 318TX maymodulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream fortransmission.

At the UE 350, each receiver 354RX receives a signal through itsrespective antenna 352. Each receiver 354RX recovers informationmodulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the receive(RX) processor 356. The TX processor 368 and the RX processor 356implement layer 1 functionality associated with various signalprocessing functions. The RX processor 356 may perform spatialprocessing on the information to recover any spatial streams destinedfor the UE 350. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 350,they may be combined by the RX processor 356 into a single OFDM symbolstream. The RX processor 356 then converts the OFDM symbol stream fromthe time-domain to the frequency domain using a Fast Fourier Transform(EFT). The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbolstream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on eachsubcarrier, and the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated bydetermining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted bythe base station 310. These soft decisions may be based on channelestimates computed by the channel estimator 358. The soft decisions arethen decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signalsthat were originally transmitted by the base station 310 on the physicalchannel. The data and control signals are then provided to thecontroller/processor 359, which implements layer 3 and layer 2functionality.

The controller/processor 359 can be associated with a memory 360 thatstores program codes and data. The memory 360 may be referred to as acomputer-readable medium. In the UL, the controller/processor 359provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packetreassembly, deciphering, header decompression, and control signalprocessing to recover IP packets from the EPC 160. Thecontroller/processor 359 is also responsible for error detection usingan ACK and/or HACK protocol to support HARQ operations.

Similar to the functionality described in connection with the DLtransmission by the base station 310 the controller/processor 359provides RRC layer functionality associated with system information(e.g, MIB, SIBs) acquisition, RRC connections, and measurementreporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with headercompression/decompression, and security (ciphering, deciphering,integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionalityassociated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correctionthrough ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs,re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; andMAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channelsand transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto TBs,demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting,error correction through HARQ, priority handling, and logical channelprioritization.

Channel estimates derived by a channel estimator 358 from a referencesignal or feedback transmitted by the base station 310 may be used bythe TX processor 368 to select the appropriate coding and modulationschemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streamsgenerated by the TX processor 368 may be provided to different antenna352 via separate transmitters 354TX. Each transmitter 354TX may modulatean RE carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

The UL transmission is processed at the base station 310 in a mannersimilar to that described in connection with the receiver function atthe UE 350. Each receiver 318RX receives a signal through its respectiveantenna 320. Each receiver 318RX recovers information modulated onto anRF carrier and provides the information to a RX processor 370.

The controller/processor 375 can be associated with a memory 376 thatstores program codes and data. The memory 376 may be referred to as acomputer-readable medium. In the UL, the controller/processor 375provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packetreassembly, deciphering, header decompression, control signal processingto recover IP packets from the UE 350. IP packets from thecontroller/processor 375 may be provided to the EPC 160. Thecontroller/processor 375 is also responsible for error detection usingan ACK and/or HACK protocol to support HARQ operations.

At least one of the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and thecontroller/processor 359 may be configured to perform aspects inconnection with 198 of FIG. 1 .

At least one of the TX processor 316, the RX processor 370, and thecontroller/processor 375 may be configured to perform aspects inconnection with 198 of FIG. 1 .

A mobile communication system may include a relay. A relay may also bereferred to as a repeater. A relay may assist in forwarding messagesbetween a base station and a UE. The base station may transmit a messagefor the UE. The relay may receive the message for the UE and mayre-transmit the message to the UE. The UE may transmit a message for thebase station, and the relay may receive the message for the base stationand re-transmit the message to the base station. Similarly, the relaymay additionally or alternatively receive a message from a UE andre-transmit the message to another UE. In some aspects, a relay mayreceive and re-transmit messages in a high-frequency spectrum (e.g., therelay may be a mmW relay).

In some aspects, a relay may receive an analog signal on a fixed beamdirection, amplify the power of the received analog signal to generate arepeat signal, and forward the repeat signal on a fixed beam direction(e.g., may operate in an amplify-forward mode). Such a relay may bereferred to herein as a Class A relay. A Class A relay may operatewithout control from the base station, as its operation may not bedynamically configurable. A Class A relay may operate in full duplexmode (e.g., may simultaneously receive the received signal and transmitthe repeat signal) as the relay does not perform additional processingof the received signal to generate the repeat signal.

In some aspects, a relay may receive an analog signal, amplify the powerof the received analog signal to generate a repeat signal, and forwardthe repeat signal (e.g., may operate in an amplify forward mode), andmay be capable of receiving some control by a base station. For example,the base station may control a beam used by the relay, e.g. the sendand/or receive beam direction. The base station may control whether therelay is relaying uplink messages from a UE to the base station ordownlink messages from the base station to a UE. Such a relay may bereferred to herein as a Class B relay. A Class B relay may operate in afull duplex mode (e.g., may simultaneously receive the received signaland transmit the repeat signal) as the relay does not perform additionalprocessing of the received signal to generate the repeat signal.Therefore, the Class B relay may have a higher system capacity and lowerforwarding latency than classes of relays, e.g., a relay operating inhalf-duplex mode. As the Class B relay amplifies and forwards thereceived signal, noise and interference in the received signal may beincluded in the repeat signal which may reduce the overall effectiveSINR of the Class B relay.

In some aspects, a relay may receive a signal, decode the signal, andforward a re-encoded signal or a new signal based on the decoded signal.Such a relay may be referred to herein as a Class C relay. A Class Crelay may perform digital baseband processing of the received signal. AClass C relay may perform scheduling, such as MAC scheduling, based onthe decoded signal. In some aspects, a Class C relay may be anintegrated access and backhaul (IAB) node.

A Class C relay may operate in half-duplex mode. Processing of thereceived signal and/or waiting for resources to receive or transmitsignals during half-duplex operation may introduce latency caused byprocessing at a Class C relay that is not present in communicationrelayed by amplify-forward relays such as Class B relays. The repeatmessage sent by a Class C relay may have a lower SINR than a repeatmessage sent by a Class B relay because decoding the received messageand re encoding the message to generate the repeat message may removenoise and interference on the received signal. Further, half-duplexoperation of the Class C relay may reduce or eliminate issues such asself-interference.

FIG. 4 illustrates a Class B relay 400. The Class B relay may include acontroller 410, a control interface 412, a receive antenna array 430, anamplifier 440, and a transmit antenna array 450. The receive antennaarray 430 and/or the transmit antenna array 450 may be phased antennaarrays. The controller 410 may control the receive antenna array 430 andthe transmit antenna array 450. For example, the controller 410 maycontrol which beam the receive antenna array 430 is receiving signals onand may control which beam the transmit antenna array 450 istransmitting signals on.

The Class B relay 400 may receive an analog signal on the receiveantenna array 430, e.g., based on the configured reception beam. In someaspects, a base station may transmit the signal to the Class B relay400. In some aspects, a UE may transmit the signal to the Class B relay400. The receive antenna array 430 may provide the received signal tothe amplifier 440. The amplifier 440 may comprise a variable gainamplifier having a gain set by the controller 410. The amplifier 440 mayamplify the received analog signal according to the gain to generate therepeat signal and may forward the repeat signal to transmit antennaarray 450. The transmit antenna array 450 may then transmit the repeatsignal, e.g., based on a configured transmission beam. In some aspects,where a base station transmitted the signal to the Class B relay 400,the transmit antenna array 450 may transmit the repeat signal to a UE.In some aspects, where a UE transmitted the signal to the Class B relay400, the transmit antenna array 450 may transmit the repeat signal to abase station or to another UE.

Another node may transmit a control signal to the Class B relay 400. Forexample, a donor node, a control node, etc. may provide controlinformation to the Class B relay. The Class B relay 400 may receive thecontrol signal at the control interface 412. The controller 410 maycontrol elements of the Class B relay based on the control signal. Forexample, the control signal may instruct the controller 410 to controlthe receive antenna array 430 to receive on a specific beam, mayinstruct the controller 410 to control the transmit antenna array 450 totransmit on a specific beam, and/or may instruct the controller 410 toutilize a specific gain at the amplifier 140.

In some aspects, the control interface 412 may operate using a differentRAT than the communication that is being relayed. For example, thecontrol interface 412 may include a separate modem (e.g., alow-frequency modem) for receiving the control signal. For example, insome aspects, the Class B relay 400 may be a mmW repeater and thecontrol interface 412 may include a Bluetooth modem, a narrowband IOTLTE modem, or a lower-frequency NR modem for receiving the controlsignal via the control interface 412. In some aspects, the controlinterface may receive control signals that are in-band with a signaltransmitted to the Class B relay 400 for forwarding to a UE (e.g., on anarrow bandwidth part of the same carrier frequency). In some aspects,the Class B relay 400 may be a mmW repeater and a base station may senda control signal to the Class B relay 400 using a mmW carrier.

FIG. 5 illustrates a relay 500. The relay 500 may include a controller510, a control interface 512, a receive antenna array 530, an amplifier540, a transmit antenna array 550, switches 562 a-d, and digitalprocessing block 570.

The controller 510 may control the receive antenna array 530 and thetransmit antenna array 550. For example, the controller 510 may controlwhich beam the receive antenna array 530 uses to receive signals on andmay control which beam the transmit antenna array 550 uses to transmitsignals. The receive antenna array 530 and/or the transmit antenna array550 may comprise phased antenna arrays.

The relay 500 may support operation in an amplify-forward mode where areceived signal is amplified and forwarded (e.g., similar to a Class Brelay described supra) and operation in a decode-forward mode where areceived signal is decoded and a message is forwarded based on thedecoded message (e.g., similar to a Class C relay described supra). Anamplify and forward-mode may employ a full duplex operation, and thedecode-forward mode may employ a half-duplex operation. The controller510 may control switches 562 a-d. The controller 510 may close switch562 a and switch 562 c and may open switch 562 b and switch 562 d tocause the relay 500 to operate in the amplify-forward mode. Thecontroller 510 may close switch 562 b and switch 562 d and may openswitch 562 a and switch 562 c to cause the relay 500 to operate in thedecode-forward mode. In some aspects, the controller 510 may operate therelay 500 in a full-duplex mode when the relay 500 operates inamplify-forward mode and may operate the relay 500 in a half-duplex modewhen the relay 500 operates in decode-forward mode. In some aspects, thecontroller 510 may open all of switches 562 a-d to forward the receivedanalog signal as the amplified repeat signal and perform digitalprocessing on the received analog signal. Where the digital processingblock 570 is processing the received signal but the amplifier 540 isamplifying and forwarding the received signal to the transmit antennaarray 550, switch 562 d may be open or closed, and the digitalprocessing block 570 may not forward a signal through the switch 562 d.

In some aspects, the relay 500 may receive a received signal from a basestation which includes relay control data and data for a served wirelessdevice, e.g., a UE. For example, the base station may multiplex therelay control data and the data for the served wireless device in thefrequency domain. The controller 510 may open all of switches 562 a-d,the digital processing block 570 may decode and extract the relaycontrol data and forward the relay control data to the controlinterface, and the amplifier 540 may amplify and forward the receivedsignal to the transmit antenna array 550 for transmission to theintended wireless device. The relay control data may include data suchas reference signals (e.g., synchronous signal block), broadcast signals(e.g., system information), or multicast control messages which may beused by both the relay 500 and the served wireless device.

The relay 500 may receive an analog signal on the receive antenna array530, e.g., based on the configured reception beam. In some aspects, abase station may transmit the signal to the relay 500. In some aspects,a UE or another relay node may transmit the signal to the relay 500.

When switch 562 a and switch 562 c are closed and switch 562 b andswitch 562 d are open (e.g., when the controller 510 closes switch 562 aand switch 562 c and opens switch 562 b and switch 562 d), the receiveantenna array 530 may provide the received signal to the amplifier 540.The amplifier 540 may comprise a variable gain amplifier having a gainset by the controller 510. The amplifier 540 may amplify the receivedanalog signal according to the gain to generate the repeat signal andmay forward the repeat signal to transmit antenna array 550 throughmixer 564.

When switch 562 b and switch 562 d are closed and switch 562 a andswitch 562 c are open (e.g., when the controller 510 closes switch 562 band switch 562 d and opens switch 562 a and switch 562 c), the receiveantenna array 530 may provide the received signal to the digitalprocessing block 570. The digital processing block 570 may demodulate,decode, encode, and modulate the received signal to generate the repeatsignal. In some aspects, the digital processing block 570 encodes thedecoded signal. In some aspects, the digital processing block 570modifies the decoded signal to generate a new digital signal and encodesthe new digital signal to generate the repeat signal. The processing atthe digital processing block 570 may be adjusted based on controlsignaling received via the control interface 512. Control signaling maybe received, for example, from a base station. The control interface maybe based on a different RAT than the communication being relayed. Thedigital processing block 570 may provide the repeat signal to thetransmit antenna array 550 through mixer 564.

In some aspects, the digital processing block 570 may includeintermediate frequency (IF) stage 572, IF stage 576, and digitalbaseband processor 574. The IF stages 572 and 576 may include mixers,filters, analog-to-digital converters (ADC), and/or digital-to-analogconverters (DAC).

The IF stage 572 may receive the RF received signal from the receiveantenna array 530, may convert the RF received signal into a digitalreceived signal, and may forward the digital received signal to thedigital baseband processor 574. For example, the IF stage 572 mayconvert the RF received signal into an IF received signal and mayconvert the IF received signal into the digital received signal.

The digital baseband processor 574 may decode the digital receivedsignal. The digital baseband processor 574 may then encode the decodeddigital received signal to generate a digital repeat signal, or maymodify the decoded digital received signal and encode the modifieddecoded digital received signal to generate the digital repeat signal.Aspects of the decoding and/or encoding of the signal may be controlledvia control signaling received via the control interface. Controlsignaling may be received, for example, from a base station. The controlinterface may be based on a different RAT than the communication beingrelayed. The digital baseband processor 574 forwards the digital repeatsignal to the IF stage 576.

The IF stage 576 may receive the digital repeat signal from the digitalbaseband processor 574, may convert the digital repeat signal into an IFrepeat signal, and may convert the IF repeat signal into an RF repeatsignal. The IF stage 576 may forward the RF repeat signal to thetransmit antenna array 550 through the mixer 564.

Upon receiving the repeat signal from the mixer 564, the transmitantenna array 550 may transmit the repeat signal, e.g., based on aconfigured transmission beam. In some aspects, where the relay 500received the initial signal from a base station, the transmit antennaarray 550 may transmit the repeat signal to a UE or to a child node. Insome aspects, where the relay 500 received the initial signal from a UEor child node, the transmit antenna array 550 may transmit the repeatsignal to, a base station or to a parent node.

FIG. 6 is a communication diagram illustrating communication between abase station 604, a relay 602, and a UE 606 that includes selectionbetween multiple supported modes for the relay 602. Although the aspectsdescribed in connection with FIG. 6 are described for communicationrelayed between a UE 606 and a base station 604, the aspects maysimilarly be applied to communication that the relay 602 relays betweena base station 604 and a child node of the relay 602 or between a UE 606and a parent node of the relay 602.

As illustrated at 603, the relay 602 may notify the base station 604that the relay 602 supports multiple relay modes. For example, the relay602 may be the relay 500 described above with respect to FIG. 5 and mayindicate to the base station 604 that it supports amplify-forward anddecode-forward modes and/or that it is capable of switching between thetwo modes.

In some aspects, the relay 602 may also communicate additionalcapability information to the base station 604, as illustrated at 605.In some aspects, the additional capability information 605 may indicatewhether its capability to operate in a particular mode is beamdependent. For example, the additional capability information 605 mayinclude eligible transmit and/or receive beams for use with a given modeof operation. For example, a first mode may be feasible or effective ona given transmit and/or receive beam while a second mode may not befeasible or effective on the given transmit and/or receive beam (e.g.,where the first mode is a full-duplex/amplify-forward mode and thesecond mode is a half-duplex/decode-forward mode, transmit and receivebeams which are close together may function in the first mode but mayhave too much self-interference to function effectively in the secondmode). The relay 602 may communicate to the base station 604 that thegiven transmit and/or receive beams may be used when the relay 602 isoperating in the first mode but may not be used when the relay 602 isoperating in the second mode. In some aspects, the additional capabilityinformation 605 may include a noise figure, e.g., a loss in output SNR,for the relay 602. The noise figure may be based on a difference betweenan input SNR and an output SNR for the relay. The noise figure may bedue to an internal impairment, e.g., internal noise, that reduces theSNR. In some aspects, the additional capability information 605 mayinclude a maximum power gain and/or a maximum output power of the relay602. In some aspects, the additional capability information 605 mayinclude a the latency for the relay 602 to switch between modes.

In some aspects, the relay 602 may communicate measurement information607 to the base station 604. The measurement information 607 may includemeasurements of the backhaul link between the relay 602 and the basestation 604 (either directly linked or linked through one or moreadditional relays). The measurement information 607 may includemeasurements of the access link between the relay 602 and the UE 606(either directly linked or linked through one or more additionalrelays). In some aspects, the relay 602 may operate in anamplify-forward mode and the measurement information may include ameasured or estimated end-to-end signal to noise ratio when operating inthe amplify-forward mode. In some aspects, the UE 606 may additionallyor alternatively communicate such measurement information 609 to thebase station 604. As noted above, the aspects illustrated for UE 606 maybe performed by another relay node. Therefore, the base station mayreceive measurement information or other information from a relay node,and may use the information from the other relay node to determine themode for relay 602.

In some aspects, the base station 604 may select a mode for the relay602, as illustrated at 611, from the supported modes communicated by therelay 602. The base station 604 may select the mode, at 611, based onthe additional information 605 provided to the base station 604 by therelay 602. Where the additional information 605 includes eligibletransmit and/or receive beams for a given mode, the base station 604 maydetermine the transmit and/or receive beam over which a communicationbetween the base station 604 and the UE 606 will be sent, and may selecta mode for which those beams are eligible. Where the additionalinformation 605 includes a noise figure for the relay 602, the basestation 604 may use the noise figure to determine an anticipated SNR fora communication between the base station 604 and the UE 606 using anamplify forward mode, and may select the amplify-forward mode if theanticipated SNR is above a threshold and may select another mode (e.g.,a decode-forward mode) if the anticipated SNR is below the threshold.

The base station 604 may select the mode, at 611, based on themeasurement information 609 provided to the base station 604 by therelay 602 and/or the measurement information 609 provided by the UE 606.For example, the base station 604 may use the measurement information609 to determine or estimate the end-to-end quality of the link betweenthe base station 604 and the UE 606, and may select an amplify-forwardmode if the quality is above a threshold and may select a decode-forwardmode if the quality is below the threshold. The base station 604 maymeasure uplink signals received from the UE 606 and may select the modebased on the measured uplink signals. For example, the relay 602 mayforward the uplink signals from the UE 606 to the base station 604 usingan amplify-forward mode, and the base station 604 may select anamplify-forward mode if the power and/or quality of the uplink signalsare above a threshold or may select a decode-forward mode if the powerand/or quality of the uplink signals are below the threshold. The UE 606may measure downlink signals received from the base station 604, mayreport the measurements 609 of the downlink signals, and the basestation 604 may select the mode, at 611, based on the measurements ofthe downlink signals. For example, the relay 602 may forward thedownlink signals to the UE 606 using an amplify-forward mode, the UE 606may report measurements of the downlink signals to the base station 604,and the base station 604 may select an, amplify-forward mode if thepower and/or quality (e.g., the SNR, reference signal received power, orreceived signal strength indicator) of the downlink signals are above athreshold or may select a decode-forward mode if the power and/orquality of the downlink signals are below the threshold. The basestation 604 may select the mode, at 611, based on a quality of service(QoS) requirement for serving the UE 606. For example, where the QoSrequirement for traffic from the UE 606 indicates that traffic from theUE should have a maximum latency or a maximum SNR, the base station 604may select a mode capable of providing latency or SNR within theindicated limits.

The base station 604 may select the mode, at 611, based on a topology ofa backhaul network which includes the relay 602. The base station 604may consider the availability of other relays in the backhaul networkand/or the associations between relays and UEs in selecting a mode forthe relay 602. For example, the base station 604 may schedulecommunications with multiple UEs through all of the relays of thebackhaul network, and the base station 604 may select the mode for therelay 602 based on a globally optimized solution for the scheduling.

Upon selecting the mode for the relay 602, the base station 604 mayindicate the selected mode to the relay 602, e.g., in signaling 613. Insome aspects, the base station 604 may communicate the selected modedynamically, e.g. through an in-band control channel such as PDCCH. Insome aspects, the base station 604 may communicate the selected modesemi-statically. In some aspects, the base station 604 may alsocommunicate the selected mode to the LTE 606. The base station 604 mayalso indicate the selected mode to a UE 606 or child node that is servedby the relay 602, e.g., in signaling 615.

In some aspects, the relay 602 may select a mode for itself, asillustrated at 617. The base station 604 may provide results orparameters that are used by the relay 602 to select or determine themode. The relay 602 may select its mode based on capabilities of therelay 602, including eligible transmit and/or receive beams for a givenmode of operation, a noise figure for the relay 602, a maximum powergain and/or a maximum output power of the relay 602, and/or a latency ofthe relay 602 for switching between modes, e.g., as described inconnection with the selection by the base station at 611. In someaspects, the relay 602 may collect measurement information and mayselect its mode based on the measurement information, e.g., as describedin connection with the selection by the base station at 611. Themeasurement information may include measurements of the backhaul linkbetween the relay 602 and the base station 604, measurements of theaccess link between the relay 602 and the UE 606, and/or an end-to-endsignal to noise ratio when operating in an amplify-forward mode. Therelay 602 may also receive measurement information from a UE 606 orchild node.

The relay 602 may have a set mode for serving a given UE, and may selectits mode based on the identity of the UE 606 being served. For example,the relay 602 may operate using an amplify-forward mode when servingUE1, may operate using a decode-forward mode when serving UE2, and mayselect the amplify-forward mode upon determining that the UE 606 is UE1.

The relay 602 may select its mode based on the physical channel overwhich a communication between the base station 604 and the UE 606 willbe sent. The relay 602 may select an amplify-forward mode when it willbe forwarding a communication over a control or a broadcast channel. Therelay 602 may select a decode-forward mode when it will be forwarding acommunication over a data channel.

The relay 602 may select its mode based on a QoS or traffic type for acommunication between the base station 604 and the UE 606. The relay 602may select an amplify-forward mode when the QoS, or traffic type for thecommunication indicates that the communication is low latency traffic(e.g., URLLC traffic). The relay 602 may select a decode-forward modewhen the QoS or traffic type does not indicate that the communication islow latency traffic (e.g., where the communication is eMBB traffic).

In some aspects, the relay 602 may have a default mode of operation andmay operate in the default mode of operation unless certain criteriatriggering another mode of operation are met. For example, the relay 602may default to operating in a decode-forward mode, and may switch to anamplify-forward mode when the transmit and receive beam combinationcauses too much self-interference for the decode-forward mode or mayswitch to the amplify-forward mode when the QoS for traffic between thebase station 604 and the UE 606 indicates that the traffic should have alow latency.

In response to selecting its mode of operation at 617, the relay 602 mayindicate the selected mode to the base station 604, e.g., in signaling619. In some aspects, the relay 602 may communicate the selected mode tothe UE 606, e.g., in signaling 621. In some aspects, the relay 602 mayindicate the selected mode to the base station 604, and the base stationmay indicate the relay's mode of operation to the UE 606, e.g., insignaling 623.

Upon selecting its mode of operation at 617 and communicating theselected mode of operation to the base station 604, or upon receivingthe selected mode of operation from the base station at 613, the relay602 may operate using the selected mode of operation. For example, therelay 602 may change from operation based on a first mode to operationbased on a second mode at 627.

The base station 604 may schedule resources for the relay 602 or the UE606 served by the relay 602 based at least in part on the determinedmode of operation for the relay node, whether determined by the basestation 604 or the relay 602. A communication rate, the scheduledresources, and/or a serving beam may be determined by the base stationbased on the determined mode of operation for the relay node.

The mode of operation used by the relay 602 when sending communicationsto the UE 606 may impact the performance of the UE 606. Different modesmay have different effective SNRs, which may result in differentachieved modulation and coding scheme (MCS) rates for the UE. Differentmodes may, result in signals being received by the UE 606 at differenttimes. Different modes may result in different amounts of interferenceobserved by the UE 606.

In some aspects, the mode of operation for the relay 602 may beindicated to the UE 606 (e.g., at 615 or 621). In response to learningthe mode of operation of the relay 602, whether the UE 606 received theindication of the selected mode from the base station 604 or the relay602, the UE 606 may adjust reception parameters, at 625, for receiving acommunication from the relay 602 or for transmitting communication tothe relay 602 to accommodate using the selected mode. In some aspects,the UE 606 may send a first reference signal when processing a signalreceived from the relay 602 operating using a first mode, and may send asecond reference signal when processing a signal received from the relay602 operating using a second mode. The UE 606 may adjust receptiontiming based on a change of the mode being used by the relay 602. The UE606 may adjust a beam configuration used to communicate with the relay602 based on an indication of a change of the relay's mode of operation.The UE may adjust an MCS used to communicate with the relay 602 based onan indication of a change of the relay's mode of operation.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart 700 of a method of wireless communication. Themethod may be performed by a base station or a component of a basestation (e.g., the base station 102, 180, 310, 604; the apparatus802/802′; the processing system 914, which may include the memory 376and which may be the entire base station 604 or a component of the basestation 604, such as the TX processor 316, the RX processor 370, and/orthe controller/processor 375). Optional aspects are illustrated with adashed line.

At 702, the base station receives capability information from a relaynode, the capability information indicating support for a first relaymode and a second relay mode. For example, the first relay mode maycomprise an amplify and forward mode and the second relay mode maycomprise a decode and forward mode. The reception of the capabilityinformation may be performed, e.g., by the capability informationcomponent 812 of the apparatus 802.

In some aspects, at 704, the base station provides information to therelay node, wherein the mode of operation is selected by the relay nodebased on the information. The information may be provided, e.g., by therelay information component 816 of the apparatus 802.

At 708, the base station determines a mode of operation for the relaynode. The mode of operation may comprise the first relay mode or thesecond relay mode, e.g., the amplify and forward mode or the decode andforward mode. The determination may be performed, e.g., by thedetermination component 814 of the apparatus 802. For example, as partof the determination at 708, the base station may select the mode ofoperation. Then, the base station may further provide information, at710, about the mode of operation determined by the base station. FIG. 6illustrates an example where the base station determines the mode forthe relay node and indicates the selected relay mode to the relay nodeand/or UE. Providing the information may include at least one ofproviding an indication of the determined mode of operation or providingrules or parameters based on which the mode of operation is selected bythe relay node. The information may be provided as an indication of themode of operation to the relay node in dynamic control information. Theinformation may be provided as an indication of the mode of operation tothe relay node in semi-static control information.

In some aspects, at 706, the base station may receive additionalinformation from the relay node, e.g., as described in connection with605, 607, and/or 609 in FIG. 6 . The additional information may bereceived, e.g., by the additional information component 808 of theapparatus 802. The base station may determine the mode of operationbased on the additional information from the relay node. For example,the additional information may comprise at least one of; a beamdependence for at least one of the first relay mode or the second relaymode, a noise characteristic of the relay node, a power gain parameterfor the relay node, an output power parameter for the relay node, or aswitching latency parameter for the relay node. The additionalinformation may comprise at least one of: a first measurement report fora backhaul link between the relay node and the base station, a secondmeasurement report for an access link between the relay node and atleast one of a UE or a second relay node, or an SNR estimation for atleast one of the first relay mode or the second relay mode.

As a part of the determination of the mode of operation, at 708, thebase station may receive an indication from the relay node indicatingthe mode of operation. The base station may determine the mode ofoperation based on at least one of: information received from the relaynode, uplink measurements of one or more signals transmitted by at leastone of the relay node, a UE, or a second relay node, downlinkmeasurements reported by a UE or the second relay node, a QoSrequirement for the UE, or a topology of a backhaul network.

At 712, the base station communicates with the relay node based at leastin part on the determined mode of operation. In some aspects, thewireless node may be the relay. The base station may communicate theselected mode to the relay. The communication may include receivingcommunication from the relay and/or transmitting communication to therelay based on the determined mode of operation. Therefore, thecommunication may be performed, e.g., by the reception component 804and/or transmission component 810 of the apparatus 802. For example, thebase station may schedule resources for the relay node or a wirelessdevice served by the relay node based at least in part on the determinedmode of operation for the relay node, wherein at least one of acommunicate rate, the resources, or a serving beam are determined by thebase station based on the determined mode of operation for the relaynode. In some aspects, the wireless node may be a UE (e.g., a UEscheduled to communicate through the relay or which the base stationwill schedule to communicate through the relay). The base station mayindicate the determined mode of operation to the U E.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual data flow diagram 800 illustrating the data flowbetween different means/components in an example apparatus 802. Theapparatus may be a base station or a component of a base station. Theapparatus includes a reception component 804 that that receivescommunication from the relay node 850 and/or from the UE 860. Thereception component 804 may receive capability information, additionalinformation and/or selected mode information from the relay node 850,and may communicate with the relay node 850 and/or the UE 860 based on adetermined mode for the relay node 850, e.g., as described above inconnection with 712 in FIG. 7 . The apparatus includes a transmissioncomponent 810 configured to transmit communication to the relay node 850and/or to the UE 860. The transmission component 810 may transmit anindication of a selected mode to the relay node 850, and may communicatewith the relay node 850 and/or the LIE 860 based on a determined modefor the relay node 850, e.g., as described above in connection with 712in FIG. 7 . The apparatus includes a capability information component812 configured to receive capability information from the relay node850, the capability information indicating support for a first relaymode and a second relay mode, e.g., as described in connection with 702in FIG. 7 . The apparatus includes an additional information component808 configured to receive additional information from the relay node850, wherein the base station determines the mode of operation based onthe additional information from the relay node, e.g., as described inconnection with 706 in FIG. 7 . The apparatus includes a determinationcomponent 814 configured to determine a mode of operation for the relaynode, e.g., as described above in connection with 708 in FIG. 7 . Theapparatus includes a relay information component 816 configured toprovide information to the relay node, wherein the mode of operation isselected by the relay node based on the information, e.g., as describedabove in connection with 704 in FIG. 7 .

The apparatus may include additional components that perform each of theblocks of the algorithm in the aforementioned flowchart of FIG. 7 . Assuch, each block in the aforementioned flowchart of FIG. 7 may beperformed by a component and the apparatus may include one or more ofthose components. The components may be one or more hardware componentsspecifically configured to carry out the stated processes/algorithm,implemented by a processor configured to perform the statedprocesses/algorithm, stored within a computer-readable medium forimplementation by a processor, or some combination thereof.

FIG. 9 is a diagram 900 illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an apparatus 802′ employing a processing system 914.The processing system 914 may be implemented with a bus architecture,represented generally by the bus 924. The bus 924 may include any numberof interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specificapplication of the processing system 914 and the overall designconstraints. The bus 924 links together various circuits including oneor more processors and/or hardware components, represented by theprocessor 904, the components 804, 808, 810, 812, 814, and 816, and thecomputer-readable medium/memory 906. The bus 924 may also link variousother circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators,and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, andtherefore, will not be described any further.

The processing system 914 may be coupled to a transceiver 910. Thetransceiver 910 is coupled to one or more antennas 920. The transceiver910 provides a means for communicating with various other apparatus overa transmission medium. The transceiver 910 receives a signal from theone or more antennas 920, extracts information from the received signal,and provides the extracted information to the processing system 914,specifically the reception component 804. In addition, the transceiver910 receives information from the processing system 914, specificallythe transmission component 810, and based on the received information,generates a signal to be applied to the one or more antennas 920. Theprocessing system 914 includes a processor 904 coupled to acomputer-readable medium/memory 906. The processor 904 is responsiblefor general processing, including the execution of software stored onthe computer-readable medium/memory 906. The software, when executed bythe processor 904, causes the processing system 914 to perform thevarious functions described supra for any particular apparatus. Thecomputer-readable medium/memory 906 may also be used for storing datathat is manipulated by the processor 904 when executing software. Theprocessing system 914 further includes at least one of the components804, 808, 810, 812, 814, and 816. The components may be softwarecomponents running in the processor 904, resident/stored in the computerreadable medium memory 906, one or more hardware components coupled tothe processor 904, or some combination thereof. The processing system914 may be a component of the base station 310 and may include thememory 376 and/or at least one of the TX processor 316, the RX processor370, and the controller/processor 375. Alternatively, the processingsystem 914 may be the entire base station (e.g., see 310 of FIG. 3 ).

In one configuration, the apparatus 802/802′ for wireless communicationincludes means for receiving capability information from a relay nodeand means for determining a mode of operation for the relay node. Theapparatus may include means for providing information to the relay node.The apparatus may include means for receiving additional informationfrom the relay node. The apparatus may include means for providing anindication of the selected mode to the relay node. The apparatus mayinclude means for communicating with the relay node based at least inpart on the determined mode of operation. The aforementioned means maybe, one or more of the aforementioned components of the apparatus 802and/or the processing system 914 of the apparatus 802′ configured toperform the functions recited by the aforementioned means. As describedsupra, the processing system 914 may include the TX Processor 316, theRN Processor 370, and the controller/processor 375. As such, in oneconfiguration, the aforementioned means may be the TX Processor 316, theRX Processor 370, and the controller/processor 375 configured to performthe functions recited by the aforementioned means.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart 1000 of a method of wireless communication. Themethod may be performed by a relay node or a component of a relay node(e.g., relay 103, 500, 602; the apparatus 1102/1102′; or the processingsystem 1214, which may include the memory 360). Optional, aspects areillustrated with a dashed line.

At 1002, the relay node transmits capability information to a basestation, the capability information indicating support for a first relaymode and a second relay mode. The first relay mode may comprises anamplify and forward mode for full duplex communication and the secondrelay mode may comprise a decode and forward mode for half-duplexcommunication. The first relay mode or the second relay mode may be adefault mode for the relay node. The transmission of the capabilityinformation may be performed, e.g., by the capability informationcomponent 1108 of the apparatus.

In some aspects, at 1004, the relay node transmits additionalinformation to the base station, wherein the mode of operation is basedon the additional information transmitted to the base station. Theadditional information may be transmitted, e.g., by the transmissioncomponent 1110 of the apparatus 1102. The additional information maycomprise at least one of: a beam dependence for at least one of thefirst relay mode or the second relay mode, a noise characteristic of therelay node, a power gain parameter for the relay node, an output powerparameter for the relay node, or a switching latency parameter for therelay node. The additional information may comprise at least one of; afirst measurement report for a backhaul link between the relay node andthe base station, a second measurement report for an access link betweenthe relay node and at least one of a UE or a second relay node, or a SNRestimation for at least one of the first relay mode or the second relaymode.

In some aspects, at 1006, the relay node may receive information fromthe base station including an indication of a mode selected by the basestation. The additional information may be received, e.g., by the basestation information component 1112 of the apparatus 1102.

At 1008, the relay node determines a mode of operation, wherein the modeof operation comprises the first relay mode or the second relay mode.The determination may be performed, e.g., by the determination component1114 of the apparatus 1102. The mode of operation may be determinedbased on information received from the base station. The information mayinclude at least one of an indication of a mode selected by the basestation or rules or parameters based on which the mode of operation isdetermined by the relay node. The information may include an indicationof the mode of operation that is received from the base station indynamic control information. The information may include an indicationof the mode of operation that is received from the base station insemi-static control information. Determining the mode of operation, at1008, may include changing between the first relay mode and the secondrelay mode. The relay node may determine the mode of operation based onat least one of: uplink measurements for one or more signals transmittedby a UE or a second relay node, downlink measurements reported by the UEor the second relay node, a QoS requirement for the UE, or a topology ofa backhaul network. The relay node may determine the mode of operationbased on at least one of: a beam used by the relay node, a child nodeserved by the relay node, a type of channel relayed by the relay node,or a type of traffic relayed by the relay node.

In some aspects, at 1010, the relay node sends some information to thebase station indicating the mode of operation selected by the relaynode. The information indicating the mode of operation may be sent,e.g., by the determination component 1114 and/or the transmissioncomponent 1110 of the apparatus 1102.

At 1012, the relay node communicates with at least one of the basestation or another wireless device based at least in part on thedetermined mode of operation. For example, the reception component 1104may receive communication and/or the transmission component 1110 of theapparatus 1102 may transmit communication based on the determined modeof operation. The relay node may receive an allocation of resources fromthe base station based at least in part on the determined mode ofoperation for the relay node, wherein at least one of a communicaterate, the resources, or a serving beam are based on the determined modeof operation for the relay node.

FIG. 11 is a conceptual data flow diagram 1100 illustrating the dataflow between different means/components in an example apparatus 1102.The apparatus may be a relay node or a component of a relay node. Theapparatus includes reception component 804 that receives communicationfrom a base station 1150 or from a UE or a child relay node. Thereception component 804 may receive information from the base station1150 and may be configured to communicate with the base station 1150and/or wireless device served by the relay (such as a UE or child node)based on a determined mode for the relay mode 1102, e.g., as describedabove in connection with 1012 in FIG. 10 . The apparatus includes atransmission component 1110 configured to transmit communication to thebase station 1150. The transmission component 1110 may transmitcapability information or an operation mode to the base station 1150,and may be configured to communicate with the base station 1150 based-ona determined mode for the relay mode 1102, e.g., as described above inconnection with 1012 in FIG. 10 . The apparatus includes a base stationinformation component 1112 configured to receive information from thebase station including an indication of a mode selected by the basestation, e.g., as described above in connection with 1006 in FIG. 10 .The apparatus includes a determination component 1114 configured todetermines a mode of operation, wherein the mode of operation comprisesthe first relay mode or the second relay mode, as described above inconnection with 1008 in FIG. 10 . The apparatus includes a capabilityinformation component 1108 configured to transmit capability informationto a base station, the capability information indicating support for afirst relay mode and a second relay mode, as described above inconnection with 1002 in FIG. 10 .

The apparatus may include additional, components that perform each ofthe blocks of the algorithm in the aforementioned flowchart of FIG. 10 .As such, each block in the aforementioned flowchart of FIG. 10 may beperformed by a component and the apparatus may include one or more ofthose components. The components may be one or more hardware componentsspecifically configured to carry out the stated processes/algorithm,implemented by a processor configured to perform the statedprocesses/algorithm, stored within a computer-readable medium forimplementation by a processor, or some combination thereof.

FIG. 12 is a diagram 1200 illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an apparatus 1102′ employing a processing system1214. The processing system 1214 may be implemented with a busarchitecture, represented generally by the bus 1224. The bus 1224 mayinclude any number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on thespecific application of the processing system 1214 and the overalldesign constraints. The bus 1224 links together various circuitsincluding one or more processors and/or hardware components, representedby the processor 1204, the components 1104, 1108, 1110, 1112, and 1114,and the computer-readable medium memory 1206. The bus 1224 may also linkvarious other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltageregulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in theart, and therefore, will not be described any further.

The processing system 1214 may be coupled to a transceiver 1210. Thetransceiver 1210 is coupled to one or more antennas 1220. Thetransceiver 1210 provides a means for communicating with various otherapparatus over a transmission medium. The transceiver 1210 receives asignal from the one or more antennas 1220, extracts information from thereceived signal, and provides the extracted information to theprocessing system 1214, specifically the reception component 1104. Inaddition, the transceiver 1210 receives information from the processingsystem 1214, specifically the transmission component 1110, and based onthe received information, generates a signal to be applied to the one ormore antennas 1220. The processing system 1214 includes a processor 1204coupled to a computer-readable medium/memory 1206. The processor 1204 isresponsible tor general processing, including the execution of softwarestored on the computer-readable medium/memory 1206. The software, whenexecuted by the processor 1204, causes the processing system 1214 toperform the various functions described supra for any particularapparatus. The computer readable medium memory 1206 may also be used forstoring data that is manipulated by the processor 1204 when executingsoftware. The processing system 1214 further includes at least one ofthe components 1104, 1108, 1110, 1112, and 1114. The components may besoftware components running in the processor 1204, resident/stored inthe computer readable medium/memory 1206, one or more hardwarecomponents coupled to the processor 1204, or some combination thereof.

In one configuration, the apparatus 1102/1102′ for wirelesscommunication includes means for transmitting capability information toa base station and means for determining a mode of operation. Theapparatus may include means for transmitting additional information tothe base station. The apparatus may include means for receivinginformation from the base station including an indication of a modeselected by the base station. The apparatus may include means forsending information to the base station indicating the operation modeselected by the relay node. The apparatus may include means forcommunicating with at least one of the base station and another wirelessdevice based at least in part on the determined mode of operation. Theaforementioned means may be one or more of the aforementioned componentsof the apparatus 1102 and/or the processing system 1214 of the apparatus1102′ configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementionedmeans. The processing system 1214 may include the TX Processor 316, theRX Processor 370, and the controller/processor 375. As such, in oneconfiguration, the aforementioned means may be the TX Processor 316, theRX Processor 370, and the controller/processor 375 configured to performthe functions recited by the aforementioned means.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart 1300 of a method of wireless communication at awireless device served by a relay node. The method may be performed by aUE or a component of a UE (e.g., the UE 104, 350, 606), by another relaynode or a component of a relay node (e.g., a child node of the relaynode), by the apparatus 1402/1402′; the processing system 1514, whichmay include the memory 360 and which may be a relay node, a relay nodecomponent or an entire UE 350 or a component of the UE 350, such as theTX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and/or the controller/processor359).

At 1302, the wireless device receives an indication of a mode ofoperation for the relay node. The indication may indicate a first relaymode or a second relay mode. The first relay mode may comprise anamplify and forward mode, and the second relay mode may comprise adecode and forward mode. The wireless device may be a UE served by therelay node or a child node of the relay node. The indication may bereceived from the relay node. The indication may be received from a basestation. The indication may be received, e.g., by the indicated modecomponent 1412 and/or reception component 1404 of the apparatus 1402.

At 1304, the wireless device determines at least one parameter forcommunicating with the relay node based on the mode of operationindicated for the relay node. The determination may be performed, e.g.,by the communication parameter determination component 1414 of theapparatus 1402. A parameter that is determined based on the mode ofoperation indicated for the relay node may include an MCS used tocommunicate with the relay node. A parameter that is determined based onthe mode of operation indicated for the relay node may include areception timing to communicate with the relay node. A parameter that isdetermined based on the mode of operation indicated for the relay nodemay include a reference signal used to communicate with the relay node.A parameter that is determined based on the mode of operation indicatedfor the relay node may include a beam configuration used to communicatewith the relay node. In some examples, when the wireless device is achild relay node of the relay node, the child relay node may determineits own mode of operation (which may be referred to as a relay node modeof operation) based on the mode of operation of the relay node servingthe child relay node.

The wireless device may receive an allocation of resources from a basestation based at least in part on the determined mode of operation forthe relay node. A communication rate, the scheduled resources, and/or aserving beam may be based on the mode of operation for the relay node.

FIG. 14 is a conceptual data flow diagram 1400 illustrating the dataflow between different means components in an example apparatus 1402.The apparatus may be a UE or a component of a UE. The apparatus may be achild relay node served by the relay node or a component of such a childrelay node. The apparatus includes a reception component 1404 thatreceives communication from the relay node 1450 and/or from a basestation. The apparatus includes a transmission component 1410 configuredto transmit communication to the relay node 1450 and/or to a basestation. The apparatus includes an indicated mode component 1412configured to receive an indication of a mode of operation for the relaynode, wherein the indication indicates a first relay mode or a secondrelay mode, e.g., as described in connection with 1302 in FIG. 13 . Theapparatus includes a communication parameter determination component1414 that determines at least one parameter for communicating with therelay node based on the mode of operation indicated for the relay node,e.g., as described in connection with 1304 in FIG. 13 .

The apparatus may include additional components that perform each of theblocks of the algorithm in the aforementioned flowchart of FIG. 13 . Assuch, each block in the aforementioned flowchart of FIG. 13 may beperformed by a component and the apparatus may include one or more ofthose components. The components may be one or more hardware componentsspecifically configured to carry out the stated processes/algorithm,implemented by a processor configured to perform the statedprocesses/algorithm, stored within a computer-readable medium forimplementation by a processor, or some combination thereof.

FIG. 15 is a diagram 1500 illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an apparatus 1402′ employing a processing system1514. The processing system 1514 may be implemented with a busarchitecture, represented generally by the bus 1524. The bus 1524 mayinclude any number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on thespecific application, of the processing system 1514 and the overalldesign constraints. The bus 1524 links together various circuitsincluding one or more processors and/or hardware components, representedby the processor 1504, the components 1404, 1410, 1412, 1414, and thecomputer-readable medium/memory 1506. The bus 1524 may also link variousother circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators,and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, andtherefore, will not be described any further.

The processing system 1514 may be coupled to a transceiver 1510. Thetransceiver 1510 is coupled to one or more antennas 1520. Thetransceiver 1510 provides a means for communicating with various otherapparatus over a transmission medium. The transceiver 1510 receives asignal from the one or more antennas 1520, extracts information from thereceived signal, and provides the extracted information to theprocessing system 1514, specifically the reception component 1404. Inaddition, the transceiver 1510 receives information from the processingsystem 1514, specifically the transmission component 1410, and based onthe received information, generates a signal to be applied to the one ormore antennas 1520. The processing system 1514 includes a processor 1504coupled to a computer-readable medium/memory 1506. The processor 1504 isresponsible for general processing, including the execution of softwarestored on the computer-readable medium/memory 1506. The software, whenexecuted by the processor 1504, causes the processing system 1514 toperform the various functions described supra for any particularapparatus. The computer-readable medium memory 1506 may also be used forstoring data that is manipulated by the processor 1504 when executingsoftware. The processing system 1514 further includes at least one ofthe components 1404, 1410, 1412, 1414. The components may be softwarecomponents running in the processor 1504, resident/stored in thecomputer readable medium/memory 1506, one or more hardware componentscoupled to the processor 1504, or some combination thereof. Theprocessing system 1514 may be a component of the UE 350 and may includethe memory 360 and/or at least one of the TX processor 368, the RXprocessor 356, and the controller/processor 359. Alternatively, theprocessing system 1514 may be the entire UE (e.g., see 350 of FIG. 3 ).

In one configuration, the apparatus 1402/1402′ for wirelesscommunication includes means for receiving an indication of a mode ofoperation for the relay node from a first relay mode to a second relaymode and means for determining at least one parameter for con with therelay node based on the mode of operation indicated for the relay node.The aforementioned means may be one or more of the aforementionedcomponents of the apparatus 1402 and/or the processing system 1514 ofthe apparatus 1402′ configured to perform the functions recited by theaforementioned means. As described supra, the processing system 1514 mayinclude the TX Processor 368, the RX Processor 356, and thecontroller/processor 359. As such, in one configuration, theaforementioned means may be the TX Processor 368, the RX Processor 356,and the controller/processor 359 configured to perform the functionsrecited by the aforementioned means.

FIG. 16A is a diagram 1600 illustrating a repeating operation. A firstwireless node 1610 may be communicating with a second wireless node 1630through a remote unit 1620. The first wireless node 1610 may transmit asignal X to the remote unit 1620. The remote unit 1620 may utilize arepeating mode of operation to generate a signal X′ based on the signalX to transmit to the second wireless node 1630. The repeating mode ofoperation may regenerate the signal X, and the signal X′ may be similarto the signal X. For example, the remote unit 1620 may generate thesignal X′ to be the received signal X compensated for the channel andfor noise. The remote unit 1620 may transmit the signal X′ to the secondwireless node 1630.

In some aspects, the remote unit 1620 may be configured with multiplefunctionality splits for the repeating mode of operation. Some examplefunctionality splits for the repeating mode of operation are discussedbelow with respect to FIG. 17 .

FIG. 16B is a diagram 1650 illustrating a relaying operation. A firstwireless node 1660 may be communicating with a second wireless node 1680through a remote unit 1670. The first wireless node 1660 may transmit asignal X to the remote unit 1670. The remote unit 1670 may utilize arelaying mode of operation to generate a signal Y based on the signal Xto transmit to the second wireless node 1680. The relaying mode ofoperation may generate the signal Y as a new signal (e.g., distinct fromthe signal X) which contains information regarding the signal X orcontains information extracted from the signal X. In some aspects, theremote unit 1670 may include the payload of the signal X in the signal Yor may include information from which the second wireless node 1680 maydiscern the payload of the signal X in the signal Y. In some aspects,the remote unit 1670 may receive the payload for the signal Yin thesignal X, or may receive information to be used to generate signal Y inthe signal X. The remote unit 1670 may transmit the signal Y to thesecond wireless node 1680.

In some aspects, the remote unit 1670 may be configured with multiplefunctionality splits for the relaying mode of operation. Some examplefunctionality splits for the relaying mode of operation are discussedbelow with respect to FIGS. 18 and 19 .

FIG. 17 is a diagram 1700 illustrating a repeating operation withmultiple functionality splits. The repeating operation may be performedby a remote unit. A transmitting wireless node may transmit a signal X,intended for a receiving wireless node, to the remote unit. The remoteunit may receive a signal Z, which is the signal X as modified by thechannel and by noise, and may utilize the repeating operation togenerate a signal X′ based on the signal Z. The remote unit may thentransmit the signal X′ to the receiving wireless node.

The remote unit may include a receive chain and a transmit chain, andmay utilize the receive chain and the transmit chain to perform therepeating operation. The remote unit may utilize the receive chain toprocess the received signal Z and may utilize the transmit chain togenerate the transmitted signal X′. The receive chain may include analogbeamforming at 1712, analog to digital conversion at 1722, removing thecyclic prefix and performing a fast Fourier transform at 1732, digitalbeamforming at 1742, resource element de-mapping at 1744, channelestimation and equalization at 1752, demodulation at 1754, descramblingat 1762, and decoding at 1764. The transmit chain may include encodingat 1766, scrambling at 1768, modulation at 1756, layer mapping at 1757,precoding at 1758, resource element mapping at 1746, digital beamformingat 1748, performing an inverse fast Fourier transform and adding thecyclic prefix at 1734, digital to analog conversion at 1724, and analogbeamforming at 1714.

The repeating operation may include functionality splits. Afunctionality split may refer to a particular path through the transmitand receive chains. For example, different functionality splits mayinclude different degrees of processing performed on the received signalZ and the transmitted signal X′ (e.g., the signals may pass differentlengths down the transmit and receive chains). The repeating operationillustrated in FIG. 17 includes six functionality splits 1710, 1720,1730, 1740, 1750, and 1760. In some aspects, a repeating operation mayinclude all six functionality splits. However, the present disclosure isnot limited thereto, and in some aspects, a repeating operation mayinclude any subset of the illustrated functionality splits, and mayinclude other functionality splits.

A remote unit utilizing the first functionality split 1710 may performanalog beamforming to receive the signal Z at 1712. The remote unit maypass the received signal Z through and amplifier 1713 to amplify thesignal. The remote unit may then perform analog beamforming to thereceived signal Z (e.g., as amplified by the amplifier 1713) at 1714 totransmit the transmitted signal X′. The first functionality split 1710may be analog repeating.

A remote unit utilizing the second functionality split 1720 may performanalog beamforming to receive the signal at 1712. The remote unit maythen perform analog to digital conversion at 1722 to determine the timedomain IQ samples for the received signal Z. The remote unit may thenperform digital to analog conversion at 1724 based on the time domain IQsamples and may perform analog beamforming at 1714 based on theresultant signal to transmit the transmitted signal X′.

A remote unit utilizing the third functionality split 1730 may performanalog beamforming to receive the signal Z at 1712. The remote unit maythen perform analog to digital conversion at 1722 and may remove thecyclic prefix and perform a fast Fourier transfer at 1732 to determinethe frequency domain IQ samples (e.g., the tones) for the receivedsignal Z. The remote unit may then perform an inverse fast Fouriertransform and add the cyclic prefix at 1734 based on the frequencydomain IQ samples, may perform digital to analog conversion at 1724based on the time domain IQ samples, and may perform analog beamformingat 1714 based on the resultant signal to transmit the transmitted signalX′.

A remote unit utilizing the fourth functionality split 1740 may performanalog beamforming to receive the signal Z at 1712. The remote unit maythen perform analog to digital conversion at 1722, may remove the cyclicprefix and perform a fast Fourier transfer at 1732, may perform digitalbeamforming at 1742, and may perform resource element demapping at 1744to determine the received symbols, per each receive antenna, for thereceived signal Z. For example, the remote unit may have a multiplereceive antennas and may process the signal received on each receiveantenna separately (e.g., may perform analog beamforming at 1712, analogto digital conversion at 1722, removing the cyclic prefix and performinga fast Fourier transfer at 1732, digital beamforming at 1742, andresource element demapping at 1744 separately for the signal received ateach antenna), and at 1744 may combine the results to determine thesymbols of the received signal Z. The remote unit may then performresource element mapping at 1746 based on the symbols for the receivedsignal Z, may perform an inverse fast Fourier transform and add thecyclic prefix at 1734, may perform digital to analog conversion at 1724,and may perform analog beamforming at 1714 based on the resultant signalto transmit the transmitted signal X.

A remote unit utilizing the fifth functionality split 1750 may performanalog beamforming to receive the signal Z at 1712. The remote unit maythen perform analog to digital conversion at 1722, may remove the cyclicprefix and perform a fast Fourier transfer at 1732, may perform digitalbeamforming at 1742, may perform resource element demapping at 1744, mayperform channel estimation and equalization at 1752, and may performdemodulation at 1754 to determine the codewords for the received signalZ. The remote unit may then perform modulation at 1756 based on thecodewords for the received signal Z, may perform resource elementmapping at 1746, may perform an inverse fast Fourier transform and addthe cyclic prefix at 1734, may perform digital to analog conversion at1724, and may perform analog beamforming at 1714 based on the resultantsignal to transmit the transmitted signal X′.

A remote unit utilizing the sixth functionality split 1760 may performanalog beamforming to receive the signal Z at 1712. The remote unit maythen perform analog to digital conversion at 1722, may remove the cyclicprefix and perform a fast Fourier transfer at 1732, may perform digitalbeamforming at 1742, may perform resource element demapping at 1744, mayperform channel estimation and equalization at 1752, may performdemodulation at 1754, may perform descrambling at 1762, and may performdecoding at 1764 to determine the transport block for the receivedsignal Z. The remote unit may then perform encoding at 1766 based on thetransport block for the received signal Z, may perform scrambling at1768, may perform modulation at 1756, may perform resource elementmapping at 1746, may perform an inverse fast Fourier transform and addthe cyclic prefix at 1734, may perform digital to analog conversion at1724, and may perform analog beamforming at 1714 based on the resultantsignal to transmit the transmitted signal X′.

FIG. 18 is a diagram 1800 illustrating a relaying operation withmultiple functionality splits for generating an outgoing communication.The relaying operation may be performed by a remote unit. A transmittingwireless node may transmit a signal X, intended for a receiving wirelessnode, to the remote unit. The remote unit may receive a signal Z, whichis the signal X as modified by the channel and by noise, and may utilizethe repeating operation to generate a signal Y based on the signal Z.The remote unit may then transmit the signal Y to the receiving wirelessnode.

The remote unit may include a receive chain and a transmit chain, andmay utilize the receive chain and the transmit chain to perform therelaying operation. The remote unit may utilize the receive chain toprocess the received signal Z and may utilize the transmit chain togenerate the transmitted signal Y. The receive chain may include analogbeamforming at 1812, analog to digital conversion at 1822, removing thecyclic prefix and performing a fast Fourier transform at 1832, digitalbeamforming at 1842, resource element de-mapping at 1844, channelestimation and equalization at 1852, demodulation at 1854, descramblingat 1862, and decoding at 1864. The transmit chain may include encodingat 1866 scrambling at 1868, modulation at 1856, layer mapping at 1857,precoding at 1858, resource element mapping at 1846, digital beamformingat 1848, performing an inverse fast Fourier transform and adding thecyclic prefix at 1834, digital to analog conversion at 1824, and analogbeamforming at 1814.

The relaying operation may include functionality splits. The relayingoperation illustrated in FIG. 18 includes five functionality splits1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, and 1860. In some aspects, a relaying operationmay include all five functionality splits. However, the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto, and in some aspects, a relayingoperation may include any subset of the illustrated functionalitysplits, and may include other functionality splits.

A remote unit utilizing the first functionality split 1820 may performanalog beamforming to receive the signal Z at 1812. The remote unit maythen perform analog to digital conversion at 1822, may remove the cyclicprefix and perform a fast Fourier transfer at 1832, may perform digitalbeamforming at 1842, may perform resource element demapping at 1844, mayperform channel estimation and equalization at 1852, may performdemodulation at 1854, may perform descrambling at 1862, and may performdecoding at 1864 to determine the transport block for the receivedsignal Z. The transport block may include time domain IQ samples for theremote unit to use to generate the signal Y. The remote unit may thenperform digital to analog conversion, at 1824 based on time domain IQsamples received in the transport block and may perform analogbeamforming at 1814 based on the resultant signal to transmit thetransmitted signal Y.

A remote unit utilizing the second functionality split 1830 may performanalog beamforming to receive the signal Z at 1812. The remote unit maythen perform analog to digital conversion at 1822, may remove the cyclicprefix and perform a fast Fourier transfer at 1832, may perform digitalbeamforming at 1842, may perform resource element demapping, at 1844,may perform channel estimation and equalization at 1852, may performdemodulation at 1854, may perform descrambling at 1862, and may performdecoding at 1864 to determine the transport block for the receivedsignal Z. The transport block may include frequency domain IQ samplesfor the remote unit to use to generate the signal Y. The remote unit maythen perform an inverse fast Fourier transform and add the cyclic prefixat 1834 based on the frequency domain IQ samples received in thetransport block may perform digital to analog conversion at 1824, andmay perform analog beamforming at 1814 based on the resultant signal totransmit the transmitted signal Y.

A remote unit utilizing the third functionality split 1840 may performanalog beamforming to receive the signal Z at 1812. The remote unit maythen perform analog to digital conversion at 1822, may remove the cyclicprefix and perform a fast Fourier transfer at 1832, may perform digitalbeamforming at 1842, may perform resource element demapping at 1844 mayperform channel estimation and equalization at 1852, may performdemodulation at 1854, may perform descrambling at 1862, and may performdecoding at 1864 to determine the transport block for the receivedsignal Z. The transport block may include symbols for the remote unit touse to generate the signal Y. The remote unit may then perform resourceelement mapping at 1846 based on the symbols received in the transportblock, may perform an inverse fast Fourier transform and add the cyclicprefix at 1834, may perform digital to analog conversion at 1824, andmay perform analog beamforming at 1814 based on the resultant signal totransmit the transmitted signal Y.

A remote unit utilizing the fourth functionality split 1850 may performanalog beamforming to receive the signal Z at 1812. The remote unit maythen perform analog to digital conversion at 1822, may remove the cyclicprefix and perform a fast Fourier transfer at 1832, may perform digitalbeamforming at 1842, may perform resource element demapping at 1844, mayperform channel estimation and equalization at 1852, may performdemodulation at 1854, may perform descrambling at 1862, and may performdecoding at 1864 to determine the transport block for the receivedsignal Z. The transport block may include codewords for the remote unitto use to generate the signal Y. The remote unit may then performmodulation at 1856 based on the codewords received in the transportblock, may perform resource element mapping at 1846, may perform aninverse fast Fourier transform and add the cyclic prefix at 1834, mayperform digital to analog conversion at 1824, and may perform analogbeamforming at 1814 based on the resultant signal to transmit thetransmitted signal Y.

A remote unit utilizing the fifth functionality split 1860 may performanalog beamforming to receive the signal Z at 1812. The remote unit maythen perform analog to digital conversion at 1822, may remove the cyclicprefix and perform a fast Fourier transfer at 1832, may perform digitalbeamforming at 1842, may perform resource element demapping at 1844, mayperform channel estimation and equalization at 1852, may performdemodulation at 1854, may perform descrambling at 1862, and may performdecoding at 1864 to determine the transport block for the receivedsignal Z. The transport block for the received signal Z may include atransport block to be included in the payload of the transmitted signalY. The remote unit may then perform encoding at 1866 based on thetransport block to be included in the payload of the transmitted signalY, may perform scrambling at 1868, may perform modulation at 1856, mayperform resource element mapping at 1846, may perform an inverse fastFourier transform and add the cyclic prefix at 1834, may perform digitalto analog conversion at 1824, and may perform analog beamforming at 1814based on the resultant signal to transmit the transmitted signal Y.

In some aspects, the relaying operation of FIG. 18 may be areceiver-transparent relaying operation. A receiver-transparent relayingoperation may be a relaying operation in which the transmissiontransmitted to the receiving wireless node does not require anyadditional processing by the receiver as a result of the relayingoperation. For example, the receiving wireless node may be a UE, such asa legacy UE not configured to support the relaying operation, and thetransmitted signal Y may be a PDSCH or a PDCCH that the UE can processbased on legacy methods. A base station may generate the signal X andinclude information (e.g., a transport block, codewords, symbols,frequency domain IQ samples, or time domain IQ samples) that will resultin the remote unit, in performing the receiver-transparent relayingoperation based on the corresponding functionality split, generating thelegacy-compatible PDSCH or PDCCH. The transmitting wireless node may bethe base station, or may be relaying the message which originated fromthe base station.

FIG. 19 is a diagram 1900 illustrating a relaying operation withmultiple functionality splits for decoding an incoming communication.The relaying operation may be performed by a remote unit. A transmittingwireless node may transmit a signal X, intended for a receiving wirelessnode, to the remote unit. The remote unit may receive a signal Z, whichis the signal X as modified by the channel and by noise, and may utilizethe repeating operation to generate a signal Y based on the signal Z.The remote unit may then transmit the signal Y to the receiving wirelessnode.

The remote unit may include a receive chain and a transmit chain, andmay utilize the receive chain and the transmit chain to perform therelaying operation. The remote unit may utilize the receive chain toprocess the received signal Z and may utilize the transmit chain togenerate the transmitted signal V. The receive chain may include analogbeamforming at 1912, analog to digital conversion at 1922, removing thecyclic prefix and performing a fast Fourier transform at 1932, digitalbeamforming at 1942, resource element dc-mapping at 1944, channelestimation and equalization at 1952, demodulation at 1954, descramblingat 1962, and decoding at 1964. The transmit chain may include encodingat 1966, scrambling at 1968, modulation at 1956, layer mapping at 1957,preceding at 1958, resource element mapping at 1946, digital beamformingat 1948, performing an inverse fast Fourier transform and adding thecyclic prefix at 1934, digital to analog conversion at 1924, and analogbeamforming at 1914.

The relaying operation may include functionality splits. The relayingoperation illustrated in FIG. 19 includes five functionality splits1920, 1930, 1940, 1950, and 1960. In some, aspects, a relaying operationmay include all five functionality splits. However, the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto, and in some aspects, a relayingoperation may include any subset of the illustrated functionalitysplits, and may include other functionality splits.

A remote unit utilizing the first functionality split 1920 may performanalog beamforming to receive the signal at 1912. The remote unit maythen perform analog to digital conversion at 1922 to determine the timedomain IQ samples for the received signal Z. The remote unit may includethe time domain IQ samples for the received signal Z in the transportblock for the signal Y. The remote unit may then perform encoding at1966 based on the transport block for the signal Y, may performscrambling at 1968, may perform modulation at 1956, may perform resourceelement mapping at 1946, may perform an inverse fast Fourier transformand add the cyclic prefix at 1934, may perform digital to analogconversion, at 1924, and may perform analog beamforming at 1914 based onthe resultant signal to transmit the transmitted signal Y.

A remote unit utilizing the second functionality split 1930 may performanalog beamforming to receive the signal Z at 1912. The remote unit maythen perform analog to digital conversion at 1922 and may remove thecyclic prefix and perform a fast Fourier transfer at 1932 to determinethe frequency domain IQ samples (e.g., the tones) for the receivedsignal Z. The remote unit may include the frequency domain IQ samplesfor the received signal Z in the transport block for the signal Y. Theremote unit may then perform encoding at 1966 based on the transportblock for the signal Y, may perform scrambling at 1968, may performmodulation at 1956, may perform resource element mapping at 1946, mayperform an inverse fast Fourier transform and add the cyclic prefix at1934, may perform digital to analog conversion at 1924, and may performanalog beamforming at 1914 based on the resultant signal to transmit thetransmitted signal Y.

A remote unit utilizing the third functionality split 1940 may performanalog beamforming to receive the signal Z at 1912. The remote unit maythen perform analog to digital conversion at 1922, may remove the cyclicprefix and perform a fast Fourier transfer at 1932, may perform inbeamforming at 1942, and may perform resource element demapping at 1944to determine the symbols for the received signal Z. The remote unit mayinclude the symbols for the received signal Z in the transport block forthe signal Y. The remote unit may then perform encoding at 1966 based onthe transport block for the signal Y, may perform scrambling at 1968,may perform modulation at 1956, may perform resource element mapping at1946, may perform an inverse fast Fourier transform and add the cyclicprefix at 1934, may perform digital to analog conversion at 1924, andmay perform analog beamforming at 1914 based on the resultant signal totransmit the transmitted signal Y.

A remote unit utilizing the fourth functionality split 1950 may performanalog beamforming to receive the signal Z at 1912. The remote unit maythen perform analog to digital conversion at 1922, may remove the cyclicprefix and perform a fast Fourier transfer at 1932, may perform digitalbeamforming at 1942, may perform resource element demapping at 1944, mayperform channel estimation and equalization at 1952, and may performdemodulation at 1954 to determine the codewords for the received signalZ. The remote unit may include the codewords for the received signal Zin the transport block for the signal Y. The remote unit may thenperform encoding at 1966 based on the transport block for the signal Y,may perform scrambling at 1968, may perform modulation at 1956, mayperform resource element mapping at 1946, may perform an inverse fastFourier transform and add the cyclic prefix at 1934, may perform digitalto analog conversion at 1924, and may perform analog beamforming at 1914based on the resultant signal to transmit the transmitted signal Y.

A remote unit utilizing the fifth functionality split 1960 may performanalog beamforming to receive the signal Z at 1912. The remote unit maythen perform analog to digital conversion at 1922, may remove the cyclicprefix and perform a fast Fourier transfer at 1932, may perform digitalbeamforming at 1942, may perform resource element demapping at 1944, mayperform channel estimation and equalization at 1952, may performdemodulation at 1954, may perform descrambling at 1962, and may performdecoding at 1964 to determine the transport block for the receivedsignal Z. The remote unit may include the transport block for thereceived signal Z in the transport block for the signal Y. The remoteunit may then perform encoding at 1966 based on the transport block forthe signal Y, may perform scrambling at 1968, may perform modulation at1956, may perform resource element mapping at 1946, may perform aninverse fast Fourier transform and add the cyclic prefix at 1934, mayperform digital to analog conversion at 1924, and may perform analogbeamforming at 1914 based on the resultant signal to transmit thetransmitted signal Y.

In some aspects, the relaying operation of FIG. 19 may be atransmitter-transparent relaying operation. A transmitter-transparentrelaying operation may be a relaying operation in which the transmissiontransmitted by the transmitting wireless node does not require anyadditional processing by the transmitting wireless node as a result ofthe relaying operation. For example, the transmitting wireless node maybe a UE, such as a legacy UE not configured to support the relayingoperation, and the received signal Z may be a PUSCH or a PUCCH that theUE can generate based on legacy methods. The remote unit may extractinformation about the received signal Z (e.g., a transport block,codewords, symbols, frequency domain IQ samples, or time domain 1Qsamples) and may include that information in the transmitted signal Y. Abase station may receive the signal Y and may utilize the extractedinformation in the signal Y to determine the content of the originalPUSCH or PUCCH legacy-compatible PDSCH or PDCCH. The receiving wirelessnode may be the base station, or may be relaying the message Y to thebase station.

FIG. 20 is a communication flow diagram 2000 illustrating operation of aremote unit 2002 with a variable mode of operation. A first wirelessnode 2001 may be transmitting data to a second wireless node 2004through the remote unit 2002. A wireless node may be a UE, a basestation, an IAB node, another remote unit, or another similar wirelessdevice. In some aspects, the first wireless node 2001 may be a basestation and the second wireless node 2004 may be a UE. In some aspects,the first wireless node 2001 may be a UE and the second wireless node2004 may be a base station. In some aspects, either or both of the firstwireless node 2004 and the second wireless node 2004 may be IAB nodes orother remote units. In some aspects, both the first wireless node 2001and the second wireless node 2004 may be UEs.

The first wireless node 2001 may transmit a first signal 2010 to theremote unit 2002 and the remote unit 2002 may receive the first signal2010. The first signal 2010 may include the data to be forwarded to thesecond wireless node 2004. As illustrated at 2020, the remote unit 2002may determine a mode of operation for processing the first signal 2010to generate a signal to forward to the second wireless node 2004.

In some aspects, the mode of operation may be determined based onwhether the first signal 2010 is an uplink channel, such as a PUSCH or aPUCCH, or is a downlink channel, such as a PDSCH or a PDCCH. In someaspects, the mode of operation may be determined based on whether thefirst signal 2010 is a control channel, such as a PUCCH or a PDCCH, oris a data channel, such as a PUSCH or a PDSCH.

In some aspects, the remote unit 2002 may be configured to use both arelaying operation and a repeating operation. As illustrated at 2022,the remote unit 2002 determining the mode of operation may includedetermining whether to utilize the relaying operation or to utilize therepeating operation to generate the signal to forward to the secondwireless node 2004.

In some aspects, the remote unit 2002 may determine to utilize therelaying operation if the first signal 2010 is a control channel, andmay determine to utilize the repeating operation if the first signal2010 is a data channel. Repeating the data channels may support fasterdata transfer between the first wireless node 2001 and the secondwireless node 2004 and may allow the remote unit 2002 to utilize a lowerdata rate for forward communications between the first wireless node2001 and the second wireless node 2004. Repeating the data channels mayalso result in higher resource utilization, as the remote unit 2002 maysupport full duplex operation in the repeating mode but may only supporthalf duplex operation in the relaying mode. Relaying the controlchannels may allow for joint scheduling of both the remote unit 2002 andthe receiving wireless node. For example, a single scheduling DCI may betransmitted to the remote unit 2002. The remote unit 2002 may decode theDCI and retrieve scheduling information for the remote unit 2002. Theremote unit 2002 may then forward the DCI to the receiving wireless nodewhich may also decode the DCI and retrieve scheduling information.

In some aspects, the remote unit 2002 may determine to utilize therelaying operation if the first signal 2010 is a data channel, and maydetermine to utilize the repeating operation if the first signal 2010 isa control channel. Relaying the data channels may achieve better signalto noise ratios for the data channels, allowing for more reliable datatransfer. Repeating the control channels may allow for faster control ofthe wireless nodes.

In some aspects, the remote unit 2002 may be configured to use a mode ofoperation with multiple functionality splits. The mode of operation withmultiple functionality splits may be a repeating operation or a relayingoperation. In some aspects, the remote unit 2002 may be configured touse both a repeating operation and a relaying operation, and either orboth operations may include functionality splits. As illustrated at2024, the remote unit 2002 determining the mode of operation may includedetermining which functionality split to utilize to generate the signalto forward to the second wireless node 2004.

In some aspects, the remote unit 2002 may determine to utilize afunctionality split with a higher level of processing (e.g., with moresteps in the transmit and/or receive chain) if the first signal 2010 isa data channel, and may determine to utilize a functionality split witha lower level of processing (e.g., with fewer steps in the transmitand/or receive chain) if the first signal 2010 is a control channel. Forexample, the remote unit 2002 may determine a functionality split fordata channels that has a higher level of processing than a functionalitysplit the remote unit 2002 determines for control channels. Utilizing ahigher level of processing for data may achieve better signal to noiseratios for data channels, allowing for more reliable data transfer.Utilizing a lower level of processing for control channels may allow forfaster control of the wireless nodes.

In some aspects, the remote unit 2002 may determine to utilize afunctionality split with a higher level of processing (e.g., with moresteps in the transmit and/or receive chain) if the first signal 2010 isa control channel, and may determine to utilize a functionality splitwith a lower level of processing (e.g., with fewer steps in the transmitand/or receive chain) if the first signal 2010 is a data channel. Forexample, the remote unit 2002 may determine a functionality split fordata channels that has a lower level of processing than a functionalitysplit the remote unit 2002 determines for control channels. Utilizing alower level of processing for data may support faster data transferbetween the wireless nodes. In some aspects, the higher level ofprocessing for control channels may include decoding, and utilizing thehigher level of processing for control channels may allow for jointscheduling of both the remote unit 2002 and the receiving wireless node.

In some aspects, the mode of operation, including whether to utilize arepeating mode or a relaying mode and including what functionality splitto utilize, may be determined based on a QoS requirement correspondingto the first signal 2010. For example, a repeating mode may provide fora lower latency and a higher data rate than a relaying mode andfunctionality splits with a lower level of processing may provide for alower latency and a higher data rate than functionality splits with ahigher level of processing. The remote unit 2002 may determine a latencyQoS requirement corresponding to the first signal 2010 and may select amode of operation that satisfies the latency QoS requirement. The remoteunit 2002 may determine a data rate QoS requirement corresponding to thefirst signal 2010 and may select a mode of operation that satisfies thedata rate QoS requirement. In another example, a relaying mode mayprovide for a higher SINR than a repeating mode and functionality splitswith a higher level of processing may provide for a higher SINR thanfunctionality splits with a lower level of processing. The remote unit2002 may determine a SINR QoS requirement corresponding to the firstsignal 2010 and may select a mode of operation that satisfies the SINRQoS requirement.

In some aspects, the mode of operation, including whether to utilize arepeating mode or a relaying mode and including what functionality splitto utilize, may be determined based on the channel quality of a firstlink between the remote unit 2002 and the first wireless node 2001,based on the channel quality of a second link between the remote unit2002 and the second wireless node 2004, or based on the channel qualityof both links. For example, the remote unit 2002 may determine thechannel quality of the first link. If the channel quality of the firstlink is high (e.g., exceeds a threshold value), the remote unit 2002 maydetermine to use a repeating mode of operation and/or a mode ofoperation including a lower functionality split. If the channel qualityof the first link is low (e.g., does not exceed a threshold value), theremote unit 2002 may determine to use a relaying mode of operationand/or a mode of operation including a higher functionality split.

As another example, the remote unit 2002 may determine the channelquality of the second link. The remote unit 2002 may have a targetend-to-end channel quality. End-to-end channel quality may be a functionof the first link channel quality and the second link channel quality.The remote unit 2002 may determine a target first link channel qualitybased on the determined second link channel quality and the targetend-to-end channel quality, and may determine the mode of operation tobe a mode of operation that results in the first link channel qualitymeeting or exceeding the target first link channel quality.

As a further example, the remote unit 2002 may determine an end-to-endchannel quality for transmissions between the first wireless node 2001and the second wireless node 2004 based on the first link and the secondlink. If the end-to-end channel quality is higher (e.g., exceeds athreshold value), the remote unit 2002 may determine to use a repeatingmode of operation and/or a mode of operation including a lowerfunctionality split. If the end-to-end channel quality is lower (e.g,does not exceed a threshold value), the remote unit 2002 may determineto use a relaying mode of operation and/or a mode of operation includinga higher functionality split.

In some aspects, the first signal 2010 may include mode instructions.The mode instructions may identify the mode of operation to use forprocessing the first signal 2010, and the remote unit 2002 may determineto utilize the mode of operation identified in the mode instructions.

In some aspects, the remote unit 2002 may be configured to use both atransmitter transparent relaying operation and receiver-transparentrelaying operation. As illustrated at 2026, the remote unit 2002determining the mode of operation may include determining whether toutilize the transmitter-transparent relaying operation or thereceiver-transparent relaying operation to generate the signal toforward to the second wireless node 2004. In some aspects, the remoteunit 2002 may determine whether to utilize the transmitter-transparentrelaying operation or the receiver-transparent relaying operation basedon whether the first signal 2010 is an uplink channel or a downlinkchannel. For example, in some aspects, the first wireless node 2001 maybe a UE and may not be configured to support the relaying mode ofoperation, but the second wireless node 2004 may be a base station andmay be configured to support the relaying mode of operation. The remoteunit 2002 may determine to utilize the transmitter-transparent relayingoperation based on determining that the first signal 2010 is an uplinkchannel. In some aspects, the second wireless node 2004 may be a UE andmay not be configured to support the relaying mode of operation, but thefirst wireless node 2001 may be a base station and may be configured to,support the relaying mode of operation. The remote unit 2002 maydetermine to utilize the receiver-transparent relaying operation basedon determining that the first signal 2010 is a downlink channel.

In some aspects, the remote unit 2002 may determine the mode ofoperation at 2020 based on a mode configuration 2008. The remote unit2002 may receive the mode configuration 2008 from a control unit, suchas a base station. The mode configuration 2008 may instruct the remoteunit 2002 on what mode to utilize. In some aspects, the modeconfiguration 2008 may instruct the remote unit 2002 to utilize aparticular mode of operation for all forwarded communications. In someaspects, the mode configuration 2008 may instruct the remote unit 2002to utilize a specific mode of operation for a specific communication, orfor a specific set of communications (e.g., for all communications froma particular UE or all communications to a particular UE). In someaspects, the control unit may be the first wireless node 2001. In someaspects, the control unit may be the second wireless node 2004. In someaspects, the control unit may be a separate control unit 2006 (e.g., maybe a wireless device such as a base station that is not transmitting thefirst signal 2010 or receiving the second signal 2030). For example, theseparate control unit 2006 may be a base station, and the first wirelessnode 2001 and the second wireless node 2004 may be UEs communicatingthrough the remote unit 2002 through sidelink communication (e.g., maynot be transmitting to or receiving from the base station).

In some aspects, the control unit, which may be the first wireless node2001, the second wireless node 2004, or the separate control unit 2006,may determine a mode of operation for the remote unit 2002 asillustrated at 2007. The control unit may generate the modeconfiguration 2008 based on the mode of operation determined at 2007.The remote unit 2002 determining the mode of operation at 2020 may bereading the mode of operation determined by the control unit from themode configuration 2008.

In some aspects, the control unit may determine the mode of operation at2007 based on whether the first signal 2010 is an uplink channel or adownlink channel. In some aspects, the control unit may determine themode of operation at 2007 based on whether the first signal 2010 is acontrol channel or a data channel. The control unit may know that thefirst signal 2010 is an uplink channel or a downlink channel, or is acontrol channel or a data channel, based on the control unit generatingthe first signal 2010 (e.g., where the control unit is the firstwireless node 2001), based on scheduling the first wireless, signal 2010(e.g., where the control unit is the separate control unit 2006), orbased on signaling received from a wireless device scheduling the firstwireless signal 2010.

In determining the mode of operation at 2007, the control unit maydetermine whether to configure the remote unit 2002 to use a relayingoperation or to use a repeating operation. The control unit maydetermine to configure the remote unit 2002 to use the relayingoperation if the first signal 2010 is a control channel, and maydetermine to configure the remote unit 2002 use the repeating operationif the first signal 2010 is a data channel. The control unit maydetermine to configure the remote unit 2002 to use the relayingoperation if the first signal 2010 is a data channel, and may determineto configure the remote unit 2002 to use the repeating operation if thefirst signals 2010 is a control channel.

In determining the mode of operation at 2007, the control unit maydetermine to configure the remote unit 2002 to use a particularfunctionality split. The control unit may determine to configure theremote unit 2002 to utilize a functionality split with a higher level ofprocessing (e.g., with more steps in the transmit and/or receive chain)if the first signal 2010 is a data channel and may determine toconfigure the remote unit 2002 to utilize a functionality split with alower level of processing (e.g., with fewer steps in the transmit and/orreceive chain) if the first signal 2010 is a control channel. Thecontrol unit may determine to configure the remote unit 2002 to utilizea functionality split with a higher level of processing (e.g., with moresteps in the transmit and/or receive chain) if the first signal 2010 isa control channel and may determine to configure the remote unit 2002 toutilize a functionality split with a lower level of processing (e.g.,with fewer steps in the transmit and/or receive chain) if the firstsignal 2010 is a data channel.

In some aspects, the control unit may determine the mode of operation at2007, including determining whether to configure the remote unit 2002 toutilize a repeating mode or a relay mode and including determining whatfunctionality split to configure the remote unit 2002 to utilize, basedon a QoS requirement corresponding to the first signal 2010. Forexample, the control unit may determine a latency QoS requirementcorresponding to the first signal 2010 and may determine a mode ofoperation that satisfies the latency QoS requirement, may determine adata rate QoS requirement corresponding to the first signal 2010 and maydetermine a mode of operation that satisfies the data rate QoSrequirement, or may determine a SINR QoS requirement corresponding tothe first signal 2010 and may determine a mode of operation thatsatisfies the SINR QoS requirement.

In some aspects, the control unit may determine the mode of operation at2007, including determining whether to configure the remote unit 2002 toutilize a repeating mode or a relay mode and including determining whatfunctionality split to configure the remote unit 2002 to utilize, basedon the channel quality of a first link between the remote unit 2002 andthe first wireless node 2001, based on the channel quality of a secondlink between the remote unit 2002 and the second wireless node 2004, orbased on the channel quality of both links. The control unit maydetermine to configure the remote unit 2002 with, a mode of operationbased on one or more of these channel qualities exceeding or notexceeding a threshold, or may determine to configure the remote unit2002 with a mode of operation which will achieve a target channelquality based on one or more of the determined channel qualities.

In determining the mode of operation at 2007, the control unit maydetermine whether to configure the remote unit 2002 to use atransmitter-transparent relaying operation or to use areceiver-transparent relaying operation. The control unit may determineto configure the remote unit 2002 to use the transmitter-transparentrelaying operation if the first signal 2010 is an uplink channel, andmay determine to configure the remote unit 2002 to use thereceiver-transparent relaying operation if the first signal 2010 is adownlink channel.

FIG. 21 is a communication flow diagram 2100 illustrating a remote unit2102 utilizing a transmitter-transparent relay mode and areceiver-transparent relay mode. A first wireless device 2101 and asecond wireless device 2104 may communicate through the remote unit2102. The first wireless device 2101 may not be configured to supportrelaying operations of the remote unit 2102. The second wireless device2104 may be configured to support relaying operations of the remote unit2102. For example, the first wireless device 2101 may be a UE, such as alegacy UE, and the second wireless device 2104 may be a base station.

The first wireless device 2101 may determine to uplink data to thesecond wireless device 2104. For example, the second wireless device2104 may schedule the first wireless device 2101 to transmit a PUSCH ora PUCCH. The second wireless device 2104 may schedule the first wirelessdevice 2101 to transmit the PUSCH or the PUCCH to the remote unit 2102.The first wireless device 2101 may transmit the PUSCH or the PUCCH tothe remote unit 2102 as a first signal 2110. The remote unit 2102 mayreceive the first signal 2110.

As illustrated at 2120, the remote unit 2102 may generate a secondsignal 2130 based on the first signal 2110 utilizing atransmitter-transparent relay mode. For example, the remote unit 2102may utilize the relay mode described above with respect to FIG. 19 . Insome aspects, the transmitter-transparent relay mode may includemultiple functionality splits, and the remote unit 2102 may select afunctionality split as described above with respect to 2020 and 2024.The second signal may include information about the first signal 2110(e.g., a transport block, codewords, symbols, frequency domain IQsamples, or time domain IQ samples). The remote unit 2102 may transmitthe second signal 2130 to the second wireless device 2104, and thesecond wireless device 2104 may receive the second signal 2130. Asillustrated at 2140, the second wireless device 2104 may determine thefirst signal 2110 or the payload of the first signal 2110 based oninformation about the first signal 2110 included in the second signal2130.

The second wireless device 2104 may determine to downlink data to thefirst wireless device 2101. As illustrated at 2150, the second wirelessdevice 2104 may generate a third signal 2160 based on the data to bedownlinked to the first wireless device 2101. The third signal 2160 mayinclude relay information. The relay information may include information(e.g., a transport block, codewords, symbols, frequency domain IQsamples, or time domain IQ samples) for the remote unit 2102 to utilizefor generating a fourth signal to transmit to the first wireless device2101. The second wireless device 2104 may transmit the third signal 2160to the remote unit 2102, and the remote unit 2102 may receive the thirdsignal 2160.

As illustrated at 2170, the remote unit 2102 may generate the fourthsignal 2180 based on the third signal 2160 and the relay informationincluded in the third signal 2160 utilizing a receiver-transparent relaymode. For example, the remote unit 2102 may utilize the relay modedescribed above with respect to FIG. 18 . In some aspects, thereceiver-transparent relay mode may include multiple functionalitysplits, and the remote unit 2102 may select a functionality split asdescribed above with respect to 2020 and 2024. Using the relayinformation, the remote unit 2102 may generate a PDSCH or a PDCCH totransmit to the first wireless device 2101 and may transmit the PDSCH orthe PDCCH to the first wireless device 2101 as the fourth signal 2180.The first wireless device 2101 may receive the fourth signal 2180 andmay decode the fourth signal 2180 (e.g., based on a legacy PDSCH orPDCCH processing method).

FIG. 22 is a flowchart 2200 of a method of wireless communication at aremote unit. The method may be performed by a remote unit (e.g., theremote unit 1620, 1670, 2002, 2102).

At 2202, the remote unit receives, from a first wireless device, a firstsignal.

At 2204, the remote unit determines a mode of operation for processingthe first signal. Determining the mode of operation may includeselecting a mode from a relaying mode and a repeating mode. Determiningthe mode of operation may include determining a functionality split forprocessing the first signal. Determining the mode of operation mayinclude determining a functionality split for generating the secondsignal. Determining the mode of operation may include selecting a modefrom a transmitter-transparent relay mode and a receiver-transparentrelay mode.

The mode of operation may be determined based on whether the firstwireless device is a base station or based on whether the secondwireless device is a base station. The mode of operation may bedetermined based on a quality of service requirement associated with thefirst signal or the second signal. The mode of operation may bedetermined based on a first channel quality associated with acommunication link between the remote unit and the first wireless or asecond channel quality associated with communication link between theremote unit and the second wireless device. The mode of operation may bedetermined based, on whether the first signal is a data channel or acontrol channel.

In some aspects, the remote unit may receive a mode configuration from acontrol entity. The mode of operation may be determined based on themode configuration. In some aspects, the first signal may include modeinstructions and the mode of operation may be determined based on themode instructions.

At 2206, the remote unit processes the first signal based on the mode ofoperation to generate a second signal.

At 2208, the remote unit transmits the second signal to a secondwireless device

FIG. 23 is a flowchart 2300 of a method of wireless communication at awireless device. The method may be performed by a wireless device (e.g.,the wireless device 2001, 2004, 2102, 2104).

At 2302, the wireless device determines to transmit a first transmissionfor a second wireless device to a remote unit.

At 2304, the wireless device generates the first transmission, the firsttransmission comprising information for generating a secondtransmission, the information for generating the second transmissionbeing based on a mode of operation of the remote unit. The informationmay include time domain IQ samples, frequency domain IQ samples,symbols, codewords, or a transport block for generating the secondtransmission. In some aspects, the wireless device may be a basestation, the first transmission may be a downlink channel, and thesecond transmission may be a downlink channel.

At 2306, the wireless device transmits the first transmission to theremote unit.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart 2400 of a method of wireless communication at awireless device. The method may be performed by a wireless device (e.g.,the wireless device 2001, 2004, 2102, 2104).

At 2402, the wireless device receives a second transmission from aremote unit, the second transmission comprising information about afirst transmission transmitted by a second wireless device to the remoteunit. The information may include time domain IQ samples, frequencydomain IQ samples, symbols, codewords, or a transport block of the firsttransmission. In some aspects, the wireless device may be a basestation, the first transmission may be an uplink channel, and the secondtransmission may be an uplink channel.

At 2404, the wireless device determines the first transmission based onthe second transmission and the information about the firsttransmission.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart 2500 of a method of wireless communication at abase station. The method may be performed by a base station (e.g., thecontrol unit 2006).

At 2502, the base station determines a mode of operation for a remoteunit, the mode of operation being a configuration for the remote unit toprocess a first signal received from a first wireless device to generatea second signal for transmission to a second wireless device; and

Determining the mode of operation may include selecting a mode from arelaying mode and a repeating mode. Determining the mode of operationmay include determining a functionality split for processing the firstsignal. Determining the mode of operation may include determining afunctionality split for generating the second signal. Determining themode of operation may include selecting a mode, from atransmitter-transparent relay mode and a receiver-transparent relaymode.

The mode of operation may be determined based on whether the firstwireless device is a base station or based on whether the secondwireless device is a base station. The mode of operation may bedetermined based on a quality of service requirement associated with thefirst signal or the second signal. The mode of operation may bedetermined based on a first channel quality associated with acommunication link between the remote unit and the first wireless or asecond channel quality associated with communication link between theremote unit and the second wireless device. The mode of operation may bedetermined based on whether the first signal is a data channel or acontrol channel.

At 2504, the base station transmits the mode of operation to the remoteunit.

FIG. 26 is a diagram 2600 illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an apparatus 2602. The apparatus 2602 is a remoteunit and includes a baseband unit 2604. The baseband unit 2604 maycommunicate through a cellular RF transceiver with the first wirelessdevice 2682 and the second wireless device 2684. The baseband unit 2604may include a computer-readable medium/memory. The baseband unit 2604 isresponsible for general processing, including the execution of softwarestored on the computer-readable medium memory. The software, whenexecuted by the baseband unit 2604, causes the baseband, unit 2604 toperform the various functions described supra. The computer-readablemedium memory may also be used for storing data that is manipulated bythe baseband unit 2604 when executing software. The baseband unit 2604further includes a reception component 2630, a communication manager2632, and a transmission component 2634. The communication manager 2632includes the one or more illustrated components. The components withinthe communication manager 2632 may be stored in the computer-readablemedium/memory and/or configured as hardware within the baseband unit2604.

The communication manager 2632 includes a first signal component 2640that receives, from the first wireless device 2682, a first signal,e.g., as described in connection with 2202 of FIG. 22 . Thecommunication manager 2632 further includes a mode of operationcomponent 2642 that determines a mode of operation for processing thefirst signal, e.g., as described in connection with 2204 of FIG. 22 .The communication manager 2632 further includes a processing component2644 that processes the first signal based on the mode of operation togenerate a second signal, e.g., as described in connection with 2206 ofFIG. 22 . The communication manager 2632 further includes a secondsignal component 2646 that transmits the second signal to the secondwireless device 2684, e.g, as described in connection with 2208 of FIG.22 .

The apparatus may include additional components that perform each of theblocks of the algorithm in the aforementioned flowchart of FIG. 22 . Assuch, each block in the aforementioned flowchart of FIG. 22 may beperformed by a component and the apparatus may include one or more ofthose components. The components may be one or more, hardware componentsspecifically configured to carry out the stated processes/algorithm,implemented by a processor configured to perform the statedprocesses/algorithm, stored within a computer-readable medium forimplementation by a processor, or some combination thereof.

In one configuration, the apparatus 2602, and in particular the basebandunit 2604, includes means for receiving, from a first wireless device, afirst signal; means for determining a mode of operation for processingthe first signal; means for processing the first signal based on themode of operation to generate a second signal; and means fortransmitting the second signal to a second wireless device. Theaforementioned means may be one or more of the aforementioned componentsof the apparatus 2602 configured to perform the functions recited by theaforementioned means. As described supra, the apparatus 2602 may includethe TX Processor 316, the RX Processor 370, and the controller/processor375. As such, in one configuration, the aforementioned means may be theTX Processor 316, the RX Processor 370, and the controller/processor 375configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means.

FIG. 27 is a diagram 2700 illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an apparatus 2702. The apparatus 2702 is a wirelessdevice, such as a UE or a base station, and includes a baseband unit2704. The baseband unit 2704 may communicate through a cellular RFtransceiver with the remote unit 2786. The baseband unit 2704 mayinclude a computer-readable medium Memory. The baseband unit 2704 isresponsible for general processing, including the execution of softwarestored on the computer-readable medium/memory. The software, whenexecuted by the baseband unit 2704, causes the baseband unit 2704 toperform the various functions described supra. The computer-readablemedium/memory may also be used for storing data that is manipulated bythe baseband unit 2704 when executing software. The baseband unit 2704further includes a reception component 2730, a communication manager2732, and a transmission component 2734. The communication manager 2732includes the one or more illustrated components. The components withinthe communication manager 2732 may be stored in the computer-readablemedium/memory and/or configured as hardware within the baseband unit2704.

The communication manager 2732 includes a transmission determinationcomponent 2740 that determines to transmit a first transmission for asecond wireless device to a remote unit, e.g., as described inconnection with 2302 of FIG. 23 . The communication manager 2732 furtherincludes a transmission generation component 2742 that generates thefirst transmission, the first transmission comprising information forgenerating a second transmission, the second transmission being based ona mode of operation of the remote unit, e.g., as described in connectionwith 2304 of FIG. 23 . The transmission component 2734 transmits thefirst transmission to the remote unit 2786, e.g., as described inconnection with 2306 of FIG. 23 .

The apparatus may include additional components that perform each of theblocks of the algorithm in the aforementioned flowchart of FIG. 23 . Assuch, each block in the aforementioned flowchart of FIG. 23 may beperformed by a component and the apparatus may include one or more ofthose components. The components may be one or More hardware componentsspecifically configured to carry out the stated processes/algorithm,implemented by a processor configured to perform the statedprocesses/algorithm, stored within a computer-readable medium forimplementation by a processor, or some combination thereof.

In one configuration, the apparatus 2702, and in particular the basebandunit 2704, includes means for determining to transmit a firsttransmission for a second wireless device to a remote unit; means forgenerating the first transmission, the first transmission comprisinginformation for generating a second transmission, the information forgenerating the second transmission being based on a mode of operation ofthe remote unit; and means for transmitting the first transmission tothe remote unit. The aforementioned means may be one or more of theaforementioned components of the apparatus 2702 configured to performthe functions recited by the aforementioned means. As described supra,the apparatus 2702 may include the TX Processor 316, the RX Processor370, and the controller processor 375. As such, in one configuration,the aforementioned mans may be the TX Processor 316, the RX Processor370, and the controller/processor 375 configured to perform thefunctions recited by the aforementioned means.

FIG. 28 is a diagram 2800 illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an apparatus 2802. The apparatus 2802 is a wirelessdevice, such as a UE or a base station, and includes a baseband unit2804. The baseband unit 2804 may communicate through a cellular RFtransceiver with the remote unit 2886. The baseband unit 2804 mayinclude a computer-readable medium/memory. The baseband unit 2804 isresponsible for general processing, including the execution of softwarestored on the computer-readable medium/memory. The software, whenexecuted by the baseband unit 2804, causes the baseband unit 2804 toperform the various functions described supra. The computer-readablemedium memory may also be used for storing data that is manipulated bythe baseband unit 2804 when executing software. The baseband unit 2804further includes a reception component 2830, a communication manager2832, and a transmission component 2834. The communication manager 2832includes the one or more illustrated components. The components withinthe communication manager 2832 may be stored in the computer-readablemedium memory and/or configured as hardware within the baseband unit2804.

The communication manager 2832 includes a second transmission receptioncomponent 2840 that receives a second transmission from a remote unit,the second transmission comprising information about a firsttransmission transmitted by a second wireless device to the remotedevice 2886, e.g., as described in connection with 2402 of FIG. 24 . Thecommunication manager 2832 further includes a first transmissiondetermination component 2842 that determines the first transmissionbased on the second transmission and the information about the firsttransmission, e.g., as described in connection with 2404 of FIG. 24 .

The apparatus may include additional components that perform each of theblocks of the algorithm in the aforementioned flowchart of FIG. 24 . Assuch, each block in the aforementioned flowchart of FIG. 24 may beperformed by a component and the apparatus may include one or more ofthose components. The components may be one or more hardware componentsspecifically configured to carry out the stated processes/algorithm,implemented by a processor configured to perform the statedprocesses/algorithm, stored within a computer-readable medium forimplementation by a processor, or some combination thereof.

In one configuration, the apparatus 2802, and in particular the basebandunit 2804, includes means for receiving a second transmission from aremote unit, the second transmission comprising information about afirst transmission transmitted by a second wireless device to the remoteunit; and means for determining the first transmission based on thesecond transmission and the information about the first transmission.The aforementioned means may be one or more of the aforementionedcomponents of the apparatus 2802 configured to perform the functionsrecited by the aforementioned means. As described supra, the apparatus2802 may include the TX Processor 316, the RX Processor 370, and thecontroller/processor 375. As such, in one configuration, theaforementioned means may be the TX Processor 316, the RX Processor 370,and the controller/processor 375 configured to perform the functionsrecited by the aforementioned means.

FIG. 29 is a diagram 2900 illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an apparatus 2902. The apparatus 2902 is a BS andincludes a baseband unit 2904. The baseband unit 2904 may communicatethrough a cellular RF transceiver with the remote unit 2986. Thebaseband unit 2904 may include a computer-readable medium memory. Thebaseband unit 2904 is responsible for general processing, including theexecution of software stored on the computer-readable medium memory. Thesoftware, when executed by the baseband unit 2904, causes the basebandunit 2904 to perform the various functions described supra. Thecomputer-readable medium/memory may also be used for storing data thatis manipulated by the baseband unit 2904 when executing software. Thebaseband unit 2904 further includes a reception component 2930, acommunication manager 2932, and a transmission component 2934. Thecommunication manager 2932 includes the one or more illustratedcomponents. The components within the communication manager 2932 may bestored in the computer-readable medium/memory and/or configured ashardware within the baseband unit 2904. The baseband unit 2904 may be acomponent of the BS 310 and may include the memory 376 and/or at leastone of the TX processor 316, the RX processor 370, and thecontroller/processor 375.

The communication manager 2932 includes a mode determination component2940 that determines a mode of operation for the remote unit 2986, themode of operation being a configuration for the remote unit to process afirst signal received from a first wireless device to generate a secondsignal for transmission to a second wireless device, e.g., as describedin connection with 2502 of FIG. 25 . The communication manager 2932further includes a mode transmission component 2942 that transmits themode of operation to the remote unit 2986, e.g., as described inconnection with 2504 of FIG. 25

The apparatus may include additional components that perform each of theblocks of the algorithm in the aforementioned flowchart of FIG. 25 . Assuch, each block in the aforementioned flowchart of FIG. 25 may beperformed by a component and the apparatus may include one or more ofthose components. The components may be one or more hardware componentsspecifically configured to carry out the stated processes/algorithm,implemented by a processor configured to perform the statedprocesses/algorithm, stored within a computer-readable medium forimplementation by a processor, or some combination thereof.

In one configuration, the apparatus 2902, and in particular the basebandunit 2904, includes means for determining a mode of operation for aremote unit, the mode of operation being a configuration for the remoteunit to process a first signal received from a first wireless device togenerate a second signal for transmission to a second wireless device;and means for transmitting the mode of operation to the remote unit. Theaforementioned means may be one or more of the aforementioned componentsof the apparatus 2902 configured to perform the functions recited by theaforementioned means. As described supra, the apparatus 2902 may includethe TX Processor 316, the RX Processor 370, and the controller processor375. As such, in one configuration, the aforementioned means may be theTX Processor 316, the RX Processor 370, and the controller/processor 375configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means.

It is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of blocks in theprocesses/flowcharts disclosed is an illustration of example approaches.Based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific orderor hierarchy of blocks in the processes/flowcharts may be rearranged.Further, some blocks may be combined or omitted. The accompanying methodclaims present elements of the various blocks in a sample order, and arenot meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the various aspects described herein. Variousmodifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied toother aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to theaspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistentwith the language claims, wherein reference to an element in thesingular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specificallyso stated, but rather “one or more.” The word “exemplary” is used hereinto mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspectdescribed herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed aspreferred or advantageous over other aspects. Unless specifically statedotherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. Combinations such as“at least one of A, B, or C,” “one or more of A, B, or C,” “at least oneof A, B, and C,” “one or more of A, B, and C,” and “A, B, C, or anycombination thereof” include any combination of A, B, and/or C, and mayinclude multiples of A, multiples of B, or multiples of C. Specifically,combinations such as “at least one of A, B, or C,” “one or more of A, B,or C,” “at least one of A, B, and C,” “one or more of A, B, and C,” and“A, B, C, or any combination thereof” may be A only, B only, C only, Aand B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C, where any such combinationsmay contain one or more member or members of A, B, or C. All structuraland functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspectsdescribed throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to beknown to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporatedherein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims.Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to thepublic regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited inthe claims. The words “module,” “mechanism,” “element,” “device,” andthe like may not be a substitute for the word “means.” As such, no claimelement is to be construed as a means plus function unless the elementis expressly recited using the phrase “means for.”

Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses.The following examples are illustrative only and may be combined withaspects of other embodiments or teachings described herein, withoutlimitation.

1. A method of wireless communication at a remote unit, comprising:receiving, from a first wireless device, a first signal; determining amode of operation for processing the first signal; processing the firstsignal based on the mode of operation to generate a second signal; andtransmitting the second signal to a second wireless device.

2. The method of clause 1, wherein determining the mode of operationcomprises selecting a mode from a relaying mode and a repeating mode.

3. The method of any of clauses 1-2, wherein determining the mode ofoperation comprises determining, a functionality split for processingthe first signal.

4. The method of any of clauses 1-3, wherein determining the mode ofoperation comprises determining a functionality split for generating thesecond signal.

5. The method of any of clauses 1-4, wherein determining the mode ofoperation comprises selecting a mode from a transmitter-transparentrelay mode and a receiver-transparent relay mode.

6. The method of any of clauses 1-5, wherein the mode of operation isdetermined based on whether the first wireless device is a base stationor based on whether the second wireless device is a base station.

7. The method of any of clauses 1-6, wherein the mode of operation isdetermined based on a quality of service requirement associated with thefirst signal or the second signal.

8. The method of any of clauses 1-7, wherein the mode of operation isdetermined based on a first channel quality associated with acommunication link between the remote unit and the first wireless or asecond channel quality associated with communication link between theremote unit and the second wireless device.

9. The method of any of clauses 1-8, wherein the mode of operation isdetermined based on whether the first signal is a data channel or acontrol channel.

10. The method of any of clauses 1-9, further comprising receiving amode configuration from a control entity, wherein the mode of operationis determined based on the mode configuration.

11. The method of any of clauses 1-10, wherein the first signalcomprises mode instructions and wherein the mode of operation isdetermined based on the mode instructions.

12. An apparatus for wireless communication at a remote unit,comprising: means for receiving, from a first wireless device, a firstsignal; means for determining a mode of operation for processing thefirst signal; means for processing the first signal based on the mode ofoperation to generate a second signal; and means for transmitting thesecond signal to a second wireless device.

13. An apparatus for wireless communication at a remote unit,comprising: a memory; and

-   -   at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to:        receive, from a first wireless device, a first signal; determine        a mode of operation for processing the first signal; process the        first signal based on the mode of operation to generate a second        signal; and transmit the second signal to a second wireless        device.

14. The apparatus of clause 13, wherein determining the mode ofoperation comprises selecting, a mode from a relaying mode and arepeating mode.

15. The apparatus of clause 13-14, wherein determining the mode ofoperation comprises determining a functionality split for processing thefirst signal.

16. The apparatus of clause 13-15, wherein determining the mode ofoperation comprises determining a functionality split for generating thesecond signal.

17. The apparatus of clause 13-16, wherein determining the mode ofoperation comprises selecting a mode from a transmitter-transparentrelay mode and a receiver-transparent relay mode.

18. The apparatus of clause 1-17, wherein the mode of operation isdetermined based on whether the first wireless device is a base stationor based on whether the second wireless device is a base station.

19. The apparatus of clause 13-18, wherein the mode of operation isdetermined based on a quality of service requirement associated with thefirst signal or the second signal.

20. The apparatus of clause 13-19, wherein the mode of operation isdetermined based on a first channel quality associated with acommunication link between the remote unit and the first wireless or asecond channel quality associated with communication link between theremote unit and the second wireless device.

21. The apparatus of clause 13-20, wherein the mode of operation isdetermined based on whether the first signal is a data channel or acontrol channel.

22. The apparatus of clause 13-21, further comprising receiving a modeconfiguration from a control entity, wherein the mode of operation isdetermined based on the mode configuration.

23. The apparatus of clause 13-22, wherein the first signal comprisesmode instructions and wherein the mode of operation is determined basedon the mode instructions.

24. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computerexecutable code for wireless communication at a remote unit, the codewhen executed by a processor cause the processor to perform the methodof any of clauses 1-11.

25. A method of wireless communication at a wireless device, comprising:determining to transmit a first transmission for a second wirelessdevice to a remote unit; generating the first transmission, the firsttransmission comprising information for generating a secondtransmission, the information for generating the second transmissionbeing based on a mode of operation of the remote unit; and transmittingthe first transmission to the remote unit.

26. The method of clause 25, wherein the wireless device is a basestation, the first transmission is a downlink channel, and the secondtransmission is a downlink channel.

27. The method of clause 25-26, wherein the information comprises timedomain IQ samples, frequency domain IQ samples, symbols, codewords, or atransport block for generating the second transmission.

28. An apparatus for wireless communication at a wireless device,comprising: means for determining to transmit a first transmission for asecond wireless device to a remote unit; means for generating the firsttransmission, the first transmission comprising information forgenerating a second transmission, the information for generating thesecond transmission being based on a mode of operation of the remoteunit; and means for transmitting the first transmission to the remoteunit.

29. An apparatus for wireless communication at a wireless device,comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memoryand configured to: determine to transmit a first transmission for asecond wireless device to a remote unit; generate the firsttransmission, the first transmission comprising information forgenerating a second transmission, the information for generating thesecond transmission being based on a mode of operation of the remoteunit; and transmit the first transmission to the remote unit.

30. The apparatus of clause 29, wherein the wireless device is a basestation, the first transmission is a downlink channel, and the secondtransmission is a downlink channel.

31. The apparatus of clause 29-30, wherein the information comprisestime domain IQ samples, frequency domain IQ samples, symbols, codewords,or a transport block for generating the second transmission.

32. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computerexecutable code for wireless communication at a wireless device, thecode when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform themethod of any of clauses 25-27.

33. A method of wireless communication at a wireless device, comprising:receiving a second transmission from a remote unit, the secondtransmission comprising information about a first transmissiontransmitted by a second wireless device to the remote unit; anddetermining the first transmission based on the second transmission andthe information about the first transmission.

34. The method of clause 33, wherein the wireless device is a basestation, the first transmission is an uplink channel, and the secondtransmission is an uplink channel.

35. The method of clause 33-34, wherein the information comprises timedomain IQ samples, frequency domain IQ samples, symbols, codewords, or atransport block of the first transmission.

36. An apparatus for wireless communication at a wireless device,comprising: means for receiving a second transmission from a remoteunit, the second transmission comprising information about a firsttransmission transmitted by a second wireless device to the remote unit;and means for determining the first transmission based on the secondtransmission and the information about the first transmission.

37. An apparatus for wireless communication at a wireless device,comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memoryand configured to: receive a second transmission from a remote unit, thesecond transmission comprising information about a first transmissiontransmitted by a second wireless device to the remote unit; anddetermine the first transmission based on the second transmission andthe information about the first transmission.

38. The apparatus of clause 37, wherein the wireless device is a basestation, the first transmission is an uplink channel, and the secondtransmission is an uplink channel.

39. The apparatus of clause 37-38, wherein the information comprisestime domain IQ samples, frequency domain IQ samples, symbols, codewords,or a transport block of the first transmission.

40. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computerexecutable code for wireless communication at a wireless device the codewhen executed by a processor cause the processor to perform the methodof any of clauses 33-35.

41. A method of wireless communication at a base station, comprising:determining a mode of operation for a remote unit, the mode of operationbeing a configuration for the remote unit to process a first signalreceived from a first wireless device to generate a second signal fortransmission to a second wireless device; and transmitting the mode ofoperation to the remote unit.

42. The method of clause 41, wherein determining the mode of operationcomprises selecting a mode from a relaying mode and a repeating mode.

43. The method of clause 41-42, wherein determining the mode ofoperation comprises determining a functionality split for processing thefirst signal.

44. The method of clause 41-43, wherein determining the mode ofoperation comprises determining a functionality split for generating thesecond signal.

45. The method of clause 41-44, wherein determining the mode ofoperation comprises selecting a mode from a transmitter-transparentrelay mode and a receiver-transparent relay mode.

46. The method of clause 41-45, wherein the mode of operation isdetermined based on whether the first wireless device is a base stationor based on whether the second wireless device is a base station.

47. The method of clause 41-46, wherein the mode of operation isdetermined based on a quality of service requirement associated with thefirst signal or the second signal.

48. The method of clause 41-47, wherein the mode of operation isdetermine based on a first channel quality associated with acommunication link between the remote unit and the first wireless or asecond channel quality associated with communication link between theremote unit and the second wireless device.

49. The method of clause 41-48, wherein the mode of operation isdetermined based on whether the first signal is a data channel or acontrol channel.

50. An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station,comprising: means for determining a mode of operation for a remote unit,the mode of operation being a configuration for the remote unit toprocess a first signal received from a first wireless device to generatea second signal for transmission to a second wireless device; and meansfor transmitting the mode of operation to the remote unit.

51. An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station,comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memoryand configured to: determine a mode of operation for a remote unit, themode of operation being a configuration for the remote unit to process afirst signal received from a first wireless device to generate a secondsignal for transmission to a second wireless device; and transmit themode of operation to the remote unit.

52. The apparatus of clause 51, wherein determining the mode ofoperation comprises selecting a mode from a relaying mode and arepeating mode.

53. The apparatus of clause 51-52, wherein determining the mode ofoperation comprises determining a functionality split for processing thefirst signal.

54. The apparatus of clause 51-53, wherein determining the mode ofoperation comprises determining a functionality split for generating thesecond signal.

55. The apparatus of clause 51-54, wherein determining the mode ofoperation comprises selecting a mode from a transmitter-transparentrelay mode and a receiver-transparent relay mode.

56. The apparatus of clause 51-55, wherein the mode of operation isdetermined based on whether the first wireless device is a base stationor based on whether the second wireless device is a base station.

57. The apparatus of clause 51-56, wherein the mode of operation isdetermined based on a quality of service requirement associated with thefirst signal or the second signal.

58. The apparatus of clause 51-57, wherein the mode of operation isdetermined based on a first channel quality associated with acommunication link between the remote unit and the first wireless or asecond channel quality associated with communication link between theremote unit and the second wireless device.

59. The apparatus of clause 51-58, wherein the mode of operation isdetermined based on whether the first signal is a data channel or acontrol channel.

60. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computerexecutable code for wireless communication at a base station, the codewhen executed by a processor cause the processor to perform the methodof any of clauses 41-49.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of wireless communication at a remoteunit, comprising: receiving, from a first wireless device, a firstsignal; determining a mode of operation for processing the first signal,wherein determining the mode of operation comprises selecting a modefrom a relaying mode and a repeating mode, and selecting a firstfunctionality split for processing the first signal when the firstsignal is a data channel, and selecting a second functionality split forprocessing the first signal when the first signal is a control channel,wherein the first functionality split and the second functionality splitcomprise different sets of signal processing operations; whereinselecting the mode from the relaying mode and the repeating mode isbased on whether the first signal is a data channel or a controlchannel; processing the first signal based on the mode of operation togenerate a second signal; and transmitting the second signal to a secondwireless device.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the modeof operation comprises determining a third functionality split forgenerating the second signal, wherein the third functionality splitcomprises a set of signal processing operations.
 3. The method of claim1, wherein determining the mode of operation further comprises selectinga mode from a transmitter-transparent relay mode and areceiver-transparent relay mode.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein themode of operation is further determined based on whether the firstwireless device is a base station or based on whether the secondwireless device is a base station.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein themode of operation is further determined based on a quality of servicerequirement associated with the first signal or the second signal. 6.The method of claim 1, wherein the mode of operation is furtherdetermined based on a first channel quality associated with acommunication link between the remote unit and the first wireless or asecond channel quality associated with communication link between theremote unit and the second wireless device.
 7. The method of claim 1,further comprising receiving a mode configuration from a control entity,wherein the mode of operation is further determined based on the modeconfiguration.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first signalcomprises instructions indicating the mode of operation and wherein themode of operation is further determined based on the instructions.
 9. Anapparatus for wireless communication at a remote unit, comprising: meansfor receiving, from a first wireless device, a first signal; means fordetermining a mode of operation for processing the first signal, whereinthe means for determining the mode of operation comprises: means forselecting a mode from a relaying mode and a repeating mode, and meansfor selecting a first functionality split for processing the firstsignal when the first signal is a data channel, and means for selectinga second functionality split for processing the first signal when thefirst signal is a control channel, wherein the first functionality splitand the second functionality split comprise different sets of signalprocessing operations; means for selecting the mode from the relayingmode and the repeating mode is based on whether the first signal is adata channel or a control channel; means for processing the first signalbased on the mode of operation to generate a second signal; and meansfor transmitting the second signal to a second wireless device.
 10. Anapparatus for wireless communication at a remote unit, comprising: amemory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and configuredto: receive, from a first wireless device, a first signal; determine amode of operation for processing the first signal, wherein determiningthe mode of operation comprises: selecting a mode from a relaying modeand a repeating mode, and selecting a first functionality split forprocessing the first signal when the first signal is a data channel, andselecting a second functionality split for processing the first signalwhen the first signal is a control channel, wherein the firstfunctionality split and the second functionality split comprisedifferent sets of signal processing operations; wherein selecting themode from the relaying mode and the repeating mode is based on whetherthe first signal is a data channel or a control channel; process thefirst signal based on the mode of operation to generate a second signal;and transmit the second signal to a second wireless device.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 10, wherein determining the mode of operationcomprises determining a third functionality split for generating thesecond signal, wherein the third functionality split comprises a set ofsignal processing operations.
 12. The apparatus of claim 10, whereindetermining the mode of operation further comprises selecting a modefrom a transmitter-transparent relay mode and a receiver-transparentrelay mode.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the mode of operationis further determined based on whether the first wireless device is abase station or based on whether the second wireless device is a basestation.
 14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the mode of operation isfurther determined based on a quality of service requirement associatedwith the first signal or the second signal.
 15. The apparatus of claim10, wherein the mode of operation is further determined based on a firstchannel quality associated with a communication link between the remoteunit and the first wireless or a second channel quality associated withcommunication link between the remote unit and the second wirelessdevice.
 16. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising receiving amode configuration from a control entity, wherein the mode of operationis further determined based on the mode configuration.
 17. The apparatusof claim 10, wherein the first signal comprises instructions indicatingthe mode of operation and wherein the mode of operation is furtherdetermined based on the instructions.
 18. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing computer executable code for wirelesscommunication at a remote unit, the code when executed by a processorcause the processor to: receive, from a first wireless device, a firstsignal; determine a mode of operation for processing the first signal,wherein determining the mode of operation comprises selecting a modefrom a relaying mode and a repeating mode, and selecting a firstfunctionality split for processing the first signal when the firstsignal is a data channel, and selecting a second functionality split forprocessing the first signal when the first signal is a control channel,wherein the first functionality split and the second functionality splitcomprise different sets of signal processing operations; whereinselecting the mode from the relaying mode and the repeating mode isbased on whether the first signal is a data channel or a controlchannel; process the first signal based on the mode of operation togenerate a second signal; and transmit the second signal to a secondwireless device.